Dib’s hurried pace soon slowed to a steady walk as he got closer to Zim’s base. He delayed getting there as he was both afraid and nervous of what he may find here. He actually started to second guess if this was the best thing to do, but he arrived before he knew it. Once it were visible across the road from him, Dib stopped and stared at it for a short time. He drew in a deep breath, whispering unsure words of encouragement before starting closer towards it.

Zim's base looked pretty similar on the outside, except for where his gnomes keeping his house protected had been destroyed. Though, it did seem to have an eerie aura around it which was something that hadn’t been present in the past.

Dib had made it to the front door now, staring upon it as if there were something fairly interesting about it. In reality, he was just preparing himself for what he was sure would be a quite shocking sight. Finally, he pushed the door open and flicked on the lights with the switch on the left wall.

The house was, no surprise, a total wreck. The scary monkey picture had been yanked down and broken on the floor, the TV itself had even been overturned and the screen shattered. And, lying there on the couch, was Gir's body. His left eye was cracked and his normal light blue glow had dulled grey with no life, not to mention his metal abdomen had been split open violently.

Of course, the sight shook the boy and made him feel quite uneasy. A place that used to be so full of life and energy was now a complete disaster, torn apart by the hands of its owner. Dib closed the door behind him, walking deeper into the living room and even tripping over some of the debris that lay scattered on the floor.

The first thing he walked towards was Gir. As he stared down upon him, he couldn’t help but feel remorse for the little robot who had always been so loyal to his master, even if he never did to anything right. The little SIR unit had also been so cheery and carefree too. He knew how to take in the pleasures of Earth and make lemons into tacos when times were stressful, whether it turned out to be helpful to the situation or not. He'd even willingly help Dib and his sister before, almost like an annoying little brother of Zim's.

Dib gave a small smile in his memory, almost wishing that little robot was here now to help lighten up this darkness he was in now. After a minute or so, he moved on steadily towards the kitchen.

The living room looked no where near as horrible as his kitchen, where there were more heavy objects to be messed with. The refrigerator was flipped on its side, the door on the oven and been yanked off and thrown to the other side of the kitchen, even the table had been broken down into splinters with the wooden chairs as well.

The elevator, disguised as a toilet, had been smashed in and looked like it was non-operational. Upon further inspection, the little panel that had carried the sane Irken up and down before this incident was present and seemed sturdy.

After spotting the panel, Dib carefully worked his way across the littered kitchen, tripping clumsily a few times across the foliage. Once he had made it to his destination, he looked behind him quickly as his paranoia had sprung on him again. There was no one now. No demented shouts or gurgles. He was alone, for now. With that, he proceeded on to the panel which took him down to the depths of the Irken’s lab below.

The computer seemed to be active, but was silent now as if in fear as well, though it was unfeeling like the maniac Irken. The lab below... there was no telling how much of that still stood.

The panel gradually came to a stop as it came to the lab entrance. The first thing Dib did was search for a light switch since it was pitch black. After much difficulty and bumping into several things, he located it and switched it on to illuminate the expansive room.

And once it was on, he could see an oddly normal lab. There seemed to be not a thing out of place in the expansive room there was present. Nothing out of the ordinary, and that alone was enough to make it the most suspicious room in the house.

Dib blinked a few times as if he believed his eyes were playing tricks on him. After so much destruction on the floors upstairs, how could Zim have just left this one alone? Dib walked deeper into the lab, glancing at the large monitor before him. He paused, simply staring at it through narrowed eyes as he could feel a sort of awareness coming from it. Finally, he proceeded down the hallways, taking quick glances into each room as he passed.Things were as they were, nothing out of the ordinary. That was, until he got to the last of his transmission rooms.

It was still pretty neat, but the wall opposite of the large monitor was painted with words. ‘LIES. LIES. LIES. LIES.’ It was painted continuously in a chilling familiar translucent pink. There was a small gap of no color before it started again. ‘DIB'S FAULT. DIB DID THIS. DIB. DIB.’ About halfway through though, he seemed to have gotten more disturbed as the painted letters were very shaky and jagged, and the word had been altered slightly. ‘IB. IB. IB.’ Over and over and over again.

Dib’s body shivered violently at the sight, that terrifying name echoing in his mind now as if the Irken were here with him now, screaming at him in his demented ways. He approached the wall stiffly to get a closer look as if to convince himself that this was Zim’s blood painted on it. He began to inhale sharply now, trembling where he stood as his mind tried to figure out what exactly he had done to Zim.

Whatever had happened had been so monumental, so horrifyingly scarring that it had quite literally driven the Irken to the point of insanity. Just the idea of him sitting there for hours on end, painting the walls with blood in a shaky sanity until all of that sanity had finally snapped away and left nothing but what he was now... It had to be a nightmare.

Stiffly, Dib sat on the floor in front of the wall as he examined every inch with the horrifying image of Zim painting with his own blood. He wasn’t sure whether he felt remorse for the Irken, seeing as how he had gone through such scaring events, or angry with him that he targeted him for something that didn’t seem to be his fault.

Zim blamed him for whatever happened to himself, and he had driven himself to the point of insanity believing it. Now, he was out for closure and revenge. He was out for his IB.

Dib nodded grimly to himself, silently accepting his fate. Zim wouldn’t stop his attacks until either he fell dead or the boy was murdered for whatever he had done. He wouldn’t attempt to leave since in a way, Zim almost seemed to fill an empty void inside of him. No one would even stand near him now. The only one who would approach him was Zim, even if he only truly wanted him dead.

Dib remained frozen as he stared at the wall for several more minutes. Finally, he stood, turning slowly and walking out of the room, giving the chilling scene one more glance over his shoulder.

The terrible room was left alone, though the little blinking box on the corner of the transmission screen had been left unnoticed. The lab still seemed to be strangely normal, which made it even eerier compared to that one room.

After a slow walk, he had made it back to the main room. He approached the main computer and stared up at the bare screen once more, squinting his eyes at it slightly.

The expansive screen was still as grey and blank as ever. Whatever information it may hold on the subject, it was not releasing to the human.

Dib frowned and walked towards the control board which lay below it. He studied it a moment, but since everything was written in Irken it was quite difficult to decipher what button did which command. After a pause, he reached for a few red buttons, staring up at the monitor as he did so.

Slowly, it hissed to life and displayed a black monitor. The computer was still not speaking up though to make a comment, just letting him try and figure it out.

Dib acked in annoyance and went back to erratically press on the buttons in front of him. Knowing Zim, he would usually make a video ‘journal’ after a failure or just when something wasn’t going to plan. This computer had to be hiding something now, which only heightened the boy’s eager need to access the computer’s files.

“Could you at least tell me how to access the files on here?” He growled impatiently.

The computer still didn't respond to his words though, which made Dib sigh heavily.

Finally, the cursor on the screen began to move on its own to obey Dib's wants. It clicked through a few files before hovering over one, waiting for Dib to do the final click, as if not wanting to access those horrors.

Dib peered at the screen for a moment, his eyes fixated on the file titled with Irken letters. He seemed to be almost dreading this as much as the computer now, his hand hovering over the yellow button that he knew would access the file. Finally, he gave it an unsure push.

Immediately, it opened to a log that seemed to last for quite a while by the amount of time on the video.

“September 2, my Tallest seem to be most unhappy with Zim's progress." The sane Zim spoke, looking annoyed. "I would have destroyed this stupid mud ball sooner if the stupid Dib-stink would stop getting in my way! I will destroy him! Logging off, Invader Zim."

There was a short static before the image reappeared with a more distressed and nervous looking Zim.

"September 14... My Tallest seem to be.. playing tricks with Zim. They're trying to tell him his mission is just a fake... b-but he knows better... they're just trying to motivate him to work faster.. heh... m-my calls don't seem to be going through either..." He bit his lip a moment before trembling a little. "Logging off... Invader Zim.."

There was another static break before he reappeared, huddled in his chair and hugging onto his knees. It was dated September 29th.

"W-Why... Why are they not answering Zim? They could not have been serious... they are ignoring me... I don't want to be ignored... I can take over this planet... I really can..." He trembled as he spoke, rocking a bit in terror. Their was another static break before it came back dated November 4th.

Zim was on his knees on the floor, gripping onto his lekku. "WHY?? WHY WON'T THEY LISTEN TO ME?! I CAN BE AN INVADER!! I CAN TAKE OVER PLANETS!! I CAN TAKE OVER THIS PLANET!!" He screamed to no one in general. Their was another break before it came back to November 18th. Zim looked pretty hollow and weak at this point, and the room had changed. He exhaled weakly as he leaned against the wall.

"I..lies... they're just.... unhappy with Zim... so they lie to him... they wanted the planet quicker...." He spoke, sounding very deranged and trying to convince himself. His hands were bleeding as he smeared that word into the wall. "The Dib....he... he is the one stopping me...

Once the videos had stopped playing, Dib stood with his mouth parted slightly in shock. Seeing the Irken go through months of mental torment in only a few minutes hadn’t been the most pleasant thing to see. His head looked downward now, whispering to himself that this wasn’t his fault... The fact that Zim’s mission was a lie surprised him as well at the very least.

Zim’s emotionally and mentally hurt body had found a way to throw blame onto him though. And now he had decided that eliminating Dib would make things suddenly okay once more.

After several minutes of just staring at the computer in complete terror, Dib turned to the platform and headed towards it. He shut off the lights on his way out, the computer’s bright monitor illuminating the room now. His head turned to look back at it, nodding once as if to thank it before stepping onto the plate in front of him. The platform rose again for him to take him back upstairs into the wreckage. Now he had an answer as to what happened and why Zim was behaving like he was. The better question was, would he regret seeing that though; seeing the complete self-destruction of his now former worst enemy and now current worst nightmare?

The thing that made seeing that video so traumatizing was that he had actually grown to some what care about Zim. Yes, they were enemies both out to stop each other at every turn, but before Zim, he didn’t have a reason to get up every day and go to school. Zim was everything he had always wanted; an alien that had found its way from the depths of space to his own planet, proving that everything he had ever believed wasn’t a lie. The Irken had always been so lively and quite the animated character, even if he was an egotistical little bastard at times. Now, he was just a hollow shell of insanity out for the boy’s blood.

And in the process of trying to destroy Dib, he, intentionally or not so, was destroying himself. Everyday he seemed to be more and more injured and screaming and choking more often. Eventually, he was destined to lose his Irken all together.

The thought of losing Zim had actually sparked a bit of sadness in Dib, even if he was causing him unbearable amounts of mental and physical distress

Zim would always be there... He just had to be...

How much longer would the Irken last in the state he was in? That was the toughest question to find an answer for. He had been deteriorating for days now, and still continued on with a slight limp in his step. Eventually, he would be practically dragging himself down the sidewalk trying to get to Dib just to weakly bat at him.

The desperate wish to save Zim rose him him now; to keep him from meeting his demise and help him recover from this deranged state. He had to look out for himself now as the attacks from surely wouldn’t stop anytime soon.

At this point, all he needed to do now was outlast his enemy. If he could outlive him, he could survive and perhaps scrape up the pieces of his sanity.

Of course, this wasn’t plausible in Dib’s head. Even with himself safe after the Irken’s death, he would still feel mental torment of being constantly isolated and alone. No matter where he went, people would still look upon him as an outcast; just the ‘insane Membrane kid.’

The only other implausible idea would be to try and fix him. Try and get that sanity to come out of him; to find that lost and alone Irken that was trapped in the insane shell that he could no longer control. But, would they ever be the same after such trauma, even with Zim’s sanity restored? The likely answer was very obvious; no, they would both never be the same. Zim would still have been abandoned here and in denial, and Dib would always be scarred by the Zim he had dealt with in that state.

Dib’s mind was at a conflict now. One part of him wanted to save him and the other just wanted him gone. It wasn’t an easy thing to have on one’s mind, but in all of his confusion he knew he didn’t want the other dead.

There was suddenly a loud screech behind him, sounding terrified and enraged. It was apparent that Zim had awoken and managed to limp his way home, only to find his target present there.

Dib’s body tensed at the inhuman tone as he knew exactly who its source was. He looked slowly behind him to see the other standing in front of the door in the living room, his blank eyes staring directly at him.

Zim slowly began to grin wildly. "IB..." He forced gruffly. "Kills...." He spoke lowly, as he outstretched one arm for him.

Dib looked forward ahead again as he considered his options now. He almost wanted to try and talk to the Irken even though he knew it would get him nowhere. He went against his better judgement and turned to face the other full on, approaching him slowly with his hands up in submission. “Zim..” He stared as he went forward. Once he had gotten close to the other, he grabbed him firmly. “I know what happened.”

Zim screamed as he drowned out his words with his terror filled voice. He was very startled from Dib's firm grip on him. He struggled with a wild screech, wanting to get away from the other.

Dib winced at the ear piercing wail but kept his grip. "I can help you!" He squeaked desperately, practically losing himself again with the deranged Irken in his grasp.

Zim continued to thrash and scream though, not seeming to hear him at all. He was just more deranged and panicked with him clutching him.

The screams shook the boy, eventually causing him to part himself from the Irken so the screams weren’t so close to his ears. He looked up after a moment as he expected Zim to lose his balance and fall flat on his face.

Zim did stumble a bit, but caught himself on his torn couch and a hiss. He turned back to Dib with an enraged wild look, panting heavily as if he had run a mile. "IB... IB..."

Dib backed up to the wall and wrapped his arms over his chest as he examined the other, then his eyes met the small amount of light coming from the cracked door being Zim. He could run, but for some reason he didn’t want to now. If anything, he seemed to be shutting down as remorse still filled his mind.

Dib’s body jolted with a violent shiver, then he spoke quietly. “Zim?”

Zim's limp lekku quirked forward as that menacing grin returned to his face. "IB." He replied to his name, sounding almost excited at Dib's state and remembrance of his name.

“I’m sorry...” He continued, looking back up at the Irken’s twisted expression.

Zim parted those jagged teeth with a low hissing sound of the air rushing from his lungs. Saliva and blood dripped from those sharp razors, looking ready to devour his IB alive.

Dib whined at the sight of the terrifying teeth, raising his hands over his face slowly in defence. “N-no..” he pleaded.

Zim just stared at him with those wild and frightening eyes as he kept his claws flexed and curved a bit like a cartoonish dinosaur would have. He kept approaching him like one as well, seeming very determined to show no mercy.

Dib took a shallow breath as he examined the Irken's stance. The boy his lip and curled himself into a fetal position as he prepared for the pain he was expecting to endure.

Zim growled as he got onto all fours after a moment and narrowed his eyes. He approached Dib a bit slower, as if noticing his strange behavior. He hissed and clawed at his shoulder, recoiling back to see what would happen.

Dib looked up slowly at the other’s touch, raising a brow almost in confusion since he had been expecting something more painful that that. He didn’t say anything in fear of provoking him. He just simply stared at the other.

Zim still continued to growl and bare his teeth to him viciously, but seemed put off by Dib's terrified demeanor compared to how he had been either fight or flight recently. He continued to sway unsteadily on all fours, staring wildly at Dib.

Dib’s eyes narrowed a bit at as the other glared at him as if doing so would make the terrifying expression disappear. He remained very still as he didn’t know what to expect from Zim now.

Zim cringed away from him as he looked up at him, screeching in outrage as if Dib had somehow offended him. He pounced forward and slammed him back by the shoulders as he practically screamed in his face.

Dib screamed at the sudden attack though he fell silent as he made contact with the wall behind him. He turned his head to the side and ducked a little to avoid the sharp teeth that were dangerously close now..

Zim brought his hand up in a readied clawing position, swiping it down and crashing it on the side of his face. His glasses were knocked off and skidded across the smooth floor out of reach to Dib.

Dib’s mouth gaped at the stinging pain almost as if he were trying to cry out, but he just couldn’t. Crimson blood seeped from the deep cuts and ran down to his chin ever so slowly, creating long thin streaks down his face. He squinted through his blurry vision now as he searched desperately for his glasses now. That, however, wasn’t too important to him now.

Zim screamed as well, startled by the others unexpected shriek of pain. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt and began to shake him violently again as he simultaneously ripped the already tattered fabric. "IB!!"

Dib stiffened his body to try and prevent his head from beating against the wall once again, though it had about once or twice. He only let out small whimpers, but he remained relatively quiet as he waited out the attack despite the pain.

Zim was not about to let him go again, and he made that very clear by the depths of his claws in Dib's arms. He just screeched and thrashed Dib around in a jerky, uneven and unsteady way in pure temperamental insanity.

A loud squeal finally escaped Dib’s throat as the claws struck him as it only added to the discomfort from being thrashed around so violently.

Zim continued to thrash him around for a while as he screeched, frustrated his hands wouldn't tear him apart. "IB!!" He screamed, choking as flecks of blood splattered onto the human's face. The Irken had paused his thrashing now, panting shallowly as the blood dripped from his bottom lip.

Dib breathed unevenly now as Zim stopped, his left eye opening slowly to see the Irken with translucent-pink liquid dribbling from his lips. This would have been a perfect time to run since it seemed he was losing his strength.He still remained, completely still in the other’s grip and watching him through widened eyes.

Zim made that gurgling sound again as he coughed up more blood. It became apparent that the gurgling sound all along had been him choking on his own blood, even at school when he had started losing his mind about a month previously.

Realizing this made the boy shudder as more blood continued to stream almost endlessly from Zim’s lips, creating quite the horrifying sight. He made the decision to part himself from Zim’s grip and push him off of him, which sent the Irken flying back onto the floor. He lept up and rushed towards the door, reaching out for it and opening it halfway before pausing to look back at the gurgling Irken behind him almost in pity.

Zim had collapsed onto his side where Dib had carelessly tossed him. He clawed at the floor as blood still trickled in a thin stream from the corner of his mouth to the scarred floor, eyes staring blank and dead at the overturned TV as he gasped like a fish out of water. One hand inched forward, just above his head, as if he were trying to reach out to Dib; physically and subconsciously trying to reach him.

Dib groaned and closed his eyes in a brief pause to collect himself, drawing in a deep breath. He turned and closed the door to a small crack again before approaching the other slowly, standing over him a moment before allowing himself to sink to the Irken’s level. He outstretched a shaking hand towards Zim’s body and pulled hiim into his arms, lifting his head a bit it a bit to try and rid him from the choking. “Z-Zim..?”

Zim convulsed a bit in his arms, but for once it was due to the massive stress he had been putting on his body to keep moving at the condition he was in. When his head was tilted up enough, he gagged a bit and choked up a mouthful of blood. He did not possess the strength or mentality to spit it out though, letting it pour from parted jaws and drip onto both his shirt and Dib's arms.

Dib whined as he came to terms with the fact that the blood had to come out. Zim being unable to spit it out could result in him suffocating and ultimately his demise, which he already decided couldn’t happen. He looked up now and scanned the dark room through narrowed eyes for something he could use to remove the liquid from his throat. His eyes ended up landing on a filthy straw not too far from his reach. A chilling idea filled his mind now as he stared at the straw through strained eyes. Within a moment, he had reached over and grasped it in his hand, his body progressively shivering more severely as he started from the straw and back to Zim. Then, without hesitation, he stuck the straw into Zim’s parted mouth and began to suck the other’s blood from his throat. When his mouth was full, he would empty it on the floor with a scream of pure terror and agony before repeating the process about three more times. By that time, he threw the straw down and squealed in trepidation. Some of the other’s blood had began to trickle down his throat, leaving a scaring taste in his mouth.

Zim tensed his body as he felt him shove the straw down his throat. He convulsed weakly as Dib sucked out the blood. By the time he pulled away completely, Zim was gasping heavily for the air he had been deprived of for a while.

Dib only stared blankly down at the other as small beads of blood continued to trickle both out of his mouth and down his throat. He was barely phased by the fact that Zim could breathe now as the horror and shock of what he had just done seemed to keep him frozen there for several moments.

Zim was resting weakly now, though he was far from thankful or even responsive. Those blank eyes still stared off without focusing even for a second. He still gave small sounds like his vocal chords couldn't stop the shrilling high pitched sound that made them smack against each other rapidly.

Dib hardly flinched at the sounds as he continued to stare blankly himself, his jaw still hanging open as he panted very shallowly.

Zim didn't have the energy to try and maim the human again, though his claws did weakly flail at him. They did nothing more than leave annoying prickles on his skin. He soon just went completely limp in his arms, head lolled back as he weakly gasped. "I..b.."

Dib’s only response to this was to look down at Zim almost with a faint expression of annoyance towards the other’s claws on his skin. He simply sat there with the other held loosely in his arms, waiting for the other to pass out which he was sure would happen soon. A small, disturbed smile creased his lips now as he watched Zim.

The blood was dried on his green cheek and jaw, the same blood that Dib had been sucking out from the back of his throat. Any other person would have gotten violently sick and at the very least vomited, but the boy appeared just as intermittent as Zim, but in a separate way.

After about five minutes or so, Dib was finally able to bring himself to move his limbs again. He worked the Irken out of his arms and back down on to the littered floor beneath them as he figured Zim would be alright for now. With that, he unsteadily pulled himself from the floor and walked mindlessly towards the door again. He almost seemed unaware of what his body was doing though.

As he approached the door, he opened it halfway and turned his head stiffly to look back at the Irken on the floor before finally heading out of the eerie base and towards his own house which held its own set of horrors now.

Zim did not follow him this time, or even make any hissing sounds on his way out. For now, it looked like the disturbed human was safe from the alien. That, however, did not mean he was safe from the attempts to destroy him.

This one took longer for Katt and I to edit because we were on a skype call and we got distracted... A lot. XD BUT IT WAS FUN. ;-; But, I didn't proof read the rest of this before uploading so sorry for badly written parts or grammar errors. XD

Now I am off to bed. I think I will be uploading these only a couple times a week because it seems that is what time will allow for now. Sorry ya'll. D:

Soon all of Zim's tremors just seemed to halt. He pulled himself back up onto all fours, extending his head up with his neck still cocked at an awkward angle so he could see Dib's face. He parted his lips into the grin again, beginning to screech out in a single laughter with that eerie 'e' sound again.

The sight of that haunting grin seemed to paralyze the boy as he slowly let himself down to the floor, wrapping himself in a fetal position as he rocked himself very stiffly as if to comfort himself. Violent shivers also shook him as the cackle rung in his ears as they only intensified the dread he was already feeling.

Zim slowly began to drag himself over to him, seeing him as wounded prey now. His limbs still had trouble taking turns, looking even more like a creature in dire need of an exorcism.

Dib's eyes expanded as the other drew closer to him. He didn't blink now since in his mind, blinking only made him made him more vulnerable than he already was, even though he would only lose sight for just a millisecond.

Zim watched him, a crazed smile that if it were a little less insane, could have looked like he was thrilled to see him. "IB.." He spoke slower, as if admiring the way it came out of his mouth. Somehow, the Irken had only recovered a portion of his long time enemy's name. He had up to this point only referred to him as 'IB' now.

Despite the previous fear of taking his eyes off the other, Dib buried his head in his knees as a sort of escape from the blood-curdling simper on Zim's face. The name, IB, rung through his head endlessly, almost accepting it as his real name now since that was the only one he had heard all day.

Zim finally stopped right beside him, dropping right against his side and actually losing consciousness. Those hollow eyes finally slipped closed and his mouth still remained parted. By how he slept, it almost looked like he were just normal Zim taking a snooze. But what lie beyond that sleeping refuge was a nightmare world he had created to live through in the waking world.

It was quiet again, which confused the boy since the last he had seen, Zim was coming at him with intentions to attack once again. He lifted his head very slightly and looked around, seeing no sign of the Irken. That was until he looked down at the floor to see him passed out beside him.

The sight of him sleeping now seemed to all but settle him. The fact that he looked so normal in his sleep, despite the blood that stained his skin and clothing, only added to his distress. He found himself forcing himself to believe that Zim was in fact sane now and that he would wake up as his normal self. It just seemed so real now, even though his breathing was rather uneven and obviously not normal.

Dib couldn't help but smile very weakly at this as he was slowly starting to believe his own fantasy was real. He outstretched a hand and hovered it very closely over Zim's shoulder, though he never let it touch. Instead, he took a moment to run his eyes over the other's body, taking in every detail, mostly his peaceful expression.

Zim's body hadn't changed any except maybe it had become even more lithe than before. And of course, he was covered in blood up his arms and his head. Down his cheeks and from his eyes there was a long straight line of puffed up skin, like a burn from the tears.

Finally, Dib had built up the courage to rest his hand upon Zim's shoulder, rubbing it very softly with his thumb. It wasn't a romantic act, more of just one that resulted from deep concern and longing.

"What happened, Zim?" Dib whispered, expecting the other to respond within several seconds.

Zim only gave a low 'screeee...' sound before remaining quiet and motionless again. Whatever had happened had obviously been enough to send the Irken deep into an irreversible psychosis. This was leading him to harm not only himself, but target Dib as well.

Dib's exhausted smile lingered on his face as his thumb continued to move lightly along Zim's shoulder. He attempted to reassure himself that everything would be fine now as he slipped deeper into his fantasy that the Irken would wake to be normal again, even though he was anything but normal before. He took in a deep sigh and rest his chin on his knees as he continued to watch the other.

But by the way Zim gripped his wrist now in his slumber seemed anything but reassuring. He'd always been maniacal before, and now he was maniacally insane. Now his new mission seemed to shift to destroying Dib, or IB as he claimed him to be.

This action snapped the fantasy from Dib's mind now as he could sense this as a dangerous grip rather than one of comfort. At this, the boy seemed to accept his fate as Zim's target. It was almost funny to think about actually... He had been pursuing the Irken for many years, waiting for the day he had finally cornered him. Now, the roles seemed to switched as it was Zim who was waiting for the day to finally catch 'IB' as he called him.

The boy whimpered as he pulled at his arm, trying desperately to escape the grip without waking Zim.

Zim's eyes shot open and he tightened his hold on Dib's arm significantly. "IB..." He screeched again, yanking to try and pull his arm out of socket a second time today.

Dib squealed in pain as his arm was pulled about, actually hearing a few small cracks which brought short shots of pain along with them. "STOP!" He pleaded in a cracked voice.

Zim bared his teeth to him, tugging on his arm. "IB!! ANSWER!!" He screeched at him, still seeming to be wanting an answer to the garbled sentence he had spoken at school that was still to this point, unable to be identified.

Dib cried out at the grimacing expression on Zim's face as it added more stress to the already unbearable situation. He tensed his body up, hoping this would keep the other from completely tearing his arm apart. "Y-you want me dead?!" He cried out with hopes that this is what Zim was looking for.

Zim gave that psychotic grin now as he stopped pulling. He reached forward and slid his bloodied hands across Dib's cheeks as if lovingly. "Answer.." He forced out again, staring straight into his eyes with that psychotic expression frozen on his face.

Dib closed his eyes and shivered at the touch for a moment, opening his eyes once the had slid half way down his cheeks. He stared, frozen as he came to terms with this truth now as well. The Irken really did want him dead...

Zim's face soon darkened into one that looked like impatient anger. "IB!!" He screeched again, his claws cutting into his cheeks. "KILLS!!" He screamed, his hands trembling against his cheeks.

Dib squealed and ripped his head up, though this only drug the embedded claws through his skin which created deep cuts that seeped crimson blood. He ended up losing his balance as well, falling backward on the floor and looking up wildly to see the door very close to him now. He rolled himself around so he was on his belly now, pulling himself to his knees and reaching out for the knob.

Zim reached a hand out from his sprawled position on the floor, holding his hand out weakly for him. "C..Come...back..." He rasped weakly as he stared at him hollowly as he tried to reach the door to escape him.

The tone of Zim's voice was almost needy and sorrowful and that in itself had quite an impact on the boy. He looked over his shoulder slightly to see the outstretched hand and he let out a whimper as this only intensified the effects of this. Dib struggled to escape this trap as he made it to the door, placing a hand on the knob and turning it slightly but hesitating to go any furthur.

Zim looked furious now as that mouth parted with a rage filled cry as he continued to stare him down with wild eyes that had every intention of attacking him. He weakly began to claw his way toward him, leaving more smears of blood in his path toward him.

This was enough to convince the boy of of his spell and open the door completely now, slamming it shut behind him as he rushed down the hallway and towards the stairs. He had miscalculated a few steps along the top though and ended up tumbling violently down. He smashed into the wall below, creating a large dent in it. He groaned and took a moment before working his way to his feet since this pain mixed with the rest seemed to stun him quite a bit.

Once to his feet, Dib rushed towards the kitchen and threw himself towards the drawers, opening and closing several in an attempt to find something. Seconds later, he pulled out what he was looking for; a large clever with a rather reflective blade as it hadn't been used much before. His reflection caught his attention for a moment and he examined himself.

His hair was rather messy and his face was so deeply cut from the claws, which were sure to leave scars once they healed. Dib's eyes looked weary, desperate and just plain scared. Though his hands shook violently so he wasn't able to get a clear vision of himself, but what he did see seemed to give him some discomfort.

At a particular jerk, there was a slight flash of green that could be seen from the mouth of the kitchen now, but only just a glance as the jerk had soon brought it away from that particular area. Dib's eyes strained more at this as he snapped around to see the crazed Irken before him, staring just as blankly as he had before. He stared for a moment before slowly, and shakily, raising the clever over his head as he tried to threaten the other.

"D-don't make me do something I'll regret.."

Zim didn't seem to understand what he was saying though as he began to almost limp toward him. "IB.." He forced out again, keeping his hand out for him while his other arm hung limply down in front of him.

Then, Dib jumped at Zim and grabbed a hold of the outstretched arm, pulling him over to the kitchen table and pinning it against the surface. He continued to hold the clever over his head as he intended on taking the limb off. All it took was one forceful swing...

Zim screeched as he thrashed against the restraining hold on the table. "IB!! IB!!" He continued to scream, as if almost trying to plead with him with the little rash thought he had. He slammed his forehead repeatedly against the table, continuing to scream.

Dib winced at the other's headed banging against the table as if it were his own. After this reaction, he couldn't bring himself to cut off the other's limb, even if it were a threat. Instead, he lowered the blade to Zim's forearm and pressed it against the limb, digging it down deep so it ripped the uniform and the skin beneath it as he dragged it up very slowly. This action drew a good amount of blood and was mostly intended to make a point that the boy was going to fight back against his attacks.

Zim continued to screech as he thrashed around and twitched. He turned his head to an awkward position and began biting his own forearm, as if feeling the only escape was to gnaw off his arm now.

Dib continued to move the blade so agonizingly slow that it almost took him a full minute to run the blade completely up his forearm. Once he felt that he had made his point, Dib released the arm and stepped backward a little, panting heavily as he comprehended what he had just done.

Zim stumbled back and hit the wall after a moment, eyes still staring hollowly at the human standing a ways away from him. "IB!! KILLS!!" He screeched as he kept his wounded arm dangling now and began to limp toward him again with a hiss of rage.

Dib dropped the clever where he stood and dashed towards the Irken, out of the kitchen and towards the front door. He unlocked it and ripped it open, rushing to the end of his yard and searching desperately for anyone. No one in particular, just someone who may help him.

He spotted a woman who seemed busy on the phone, but that didn't seem to matter to him as he dashed towards her and grabbed her arm in a distressed grip, staring up at her with a distraught expression. The woman jumped a bit in his grip, pulling the phone away from her ear and staring at him, though she seemed disillusioned just from the look on his face.

"P-please help me.." Dib started of in a shaking tone. "T-there's a psycho alien in my house trying to kill me!"

"Uh.." She started before she was interrupted.

Dib pointed up to his cheek with his free hand, looking more strained as he did so. "He did this to me!! He did all of this to me! Please help me!" He screeched as he motioned to the seeping wounds that scarred his flesh.

The woman seemed eager to get out of his grip now as she tugged against him, eventually working her way free. "It's... Just in your head..." She suggested as she practically jogged away from him.

Dib wiped the blood from his cheeks now and held out his hands shakily to no one in particular but to anyone who would bother looking. "He did this to me! Please help me!!" He screamed in agony.

Wherever anyone looked though, there was no alien out trying to get the boy. To them, it was just the neighbourhood's disturbed kid who's rich and famous father probably sighed disappointingly over everyday. And, of course, no one ever believed a word out of his mouth.

Dib had managed to scout out two boys walking home from skool and he made his way clumsily towards them, holding his hands out to them to reveal the blood that stained them. "P-please help me... Zim's going to kill me.." His tone was rather needy now, but of course the boys paid it no mind as they just ran past him to avoid anymore interaction with him.

People down the street were now paused to stare at him oddly and a bit frighteningly. A kid nearby frowned more and shuddered at the deranged Membrane. "Dude... you need some serious help..." He commented before walking briskly away to try and get away from the craziness.

"N-no.. I'm not crazy! He's in there!" Dib shouted as he motioned towards his house, looking again for anyone who would pay him any mind.

Soon enough, everyone just went about their own business again and left the poor boy alone. There again, no one had believed him and a good percentage had just called him insane once more.

Dib had soon lost hope and stood with his eyes closed for a moment before opening them to slowly return to his house. He stood at the edge of the yard, staring at the house which seemed to haunt him now just from the sight of it. A place where he used to feel so safe had turned into a living hell for the boy in just a matter of hours. He hated the idea of going back in there from the fear that he would endure more attacks, but where else was he to go?

The Irken could be lying just beyond that door, waiting for his IB. He could even be back in his room, just waiting for him to fall asleep and become vulnerable to him. He was going to get his IB eventually.

Woo I am just knocking these out! For now. XD I will probably take a bit of a break after this one just because I really need to be working on school work. But this is just too much fun! You have no idea how cool it is to go back and edit this. c: I love it.

Resolve came in the form of first sunlight beaming through the shattered hole that was at one point a window. It immediately melted away the shadows and extinguished the coolness that the night had brought. Everything was completely visible now and revealed to the paranoid human.

However, even after the sun had come up, Dib took a while to convince himself that there wasn't actually anything there, and that it had all just been a crazy delusion in his head. After several more minutes of watching everything around him, he had finally convinced himself that he was alone now, which actually relaxed him and made him realize how tired he actually was. It was too late to try and sleep now though since he had to get ready for another dreadful day of school.

He didn't try too hard, though, as he decided to stay in the bloodied and torn cloths from the night before and only ran his hands over his hair in an attempt to smooth it out. He was far too tired and stressed to be concerned about how he looked anyway.

Eager to get out of his room, Dib left in favor of heading out towards the kitchen. As he reached the kitchen, however, he stopped in his tracks as his eyes met the cleaver on the kitchen table, which was still stained with Zim's blood. He stared blankly as the events from the previous night played out mercilessly in his memory the longer he stared at the soiled blade.

Zim would be there at the school as well, waiting for him and wanting to attack his precious IB again. It would probably be in best interest to take a weapon that could be concealed for protection. Zim was certainly not going to hold back on him, after all.

Dib made the conscious decision to grab the cleaver in his hands, bringing it close to himself as he examined the soiled blade for a moment. He looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching him before opening his jacket and slipping the cleaver into the deep pocket on the left. He felt safer having some form of weapon in his possession rather than going to school completely defenseless, for he knew Zim would attack him as soon as the opportunity struck.

Dib left the kitchen now, making his way towards the living room couch and waiting anxiously for the time to head off. He wasn't looking forward to encountering Zim at all since he was so drained of energy...

School time rolled around soon enough, and children were walking up the sidewalk toward the building that lie only a block away. Zim would be hobbling up there as well, maybe a bit late as he had been a few days.

Since Gaz hadn't made it downstairs yet, Dib came to the conclusion that he would be walking to school alone today. He didn't mind though since he assumed she would only give him hell about waking her up in the middle of the night. With that, he headed out of the door hesitantly and started down the sidewalk towards the school. He kept his head downcast to avoid looking at anyone, and God forbid talk to anyone.

The school hallways were congested with gossiping teenagers, who were creating an obnoxious amount of noise with their loud voices and shrill laughter. Some had even pointed to Dib and made remarks about his appearance which drew a few laughs, but he didn't care too much. He only cared about getting to class early with the hope that he would have some time to rest before school started.

People gave him looks of distaste as he passed them, just seeing him as that crazy Membrane sibling that no one liked. The classroom was currently empty of all life except for him. There had yet to be a sign of Zim either.

Dib meandered into the room feeling a bit pleased with the empty classroom. He plopped down into his desk and allowed his head fall onto the table below him, eyes closing due to the amount of exhaustion he was suffering from now. He was able to get a few minutes of peace and quiet before he would be forced to endure the rest of this day, which was sure to be dreadful.

Soon, more kids began to trickle into the room as class time grew closer and closer. Just as the teacher started to close the door to start class, a loud BANG sounded from it and silenced the class. Zim stood there, eyes wide and blank with his arm messily wrapped around his tattered sleeve. His other arm was outstretched, hand planted firmly against the door to keep it ajar. The teacher glared at him as he just remained there for a full minute before finally hobbling to his desk.

Dib was snapped abruptly from his light slumber at the sound of the bang, though he kept his head down on his desk. He knew exactly who was there without even having to glance up at the door.

Zim looked dead at him though as soon as he sat, his eyes locked on him in a creepy stare. Even a few of the students were a bit unnerved at the strange green kid's vacant, unblinking eyes. No one said anything though, just letting Zim do whatever he pleased if it kept him focused on Dib and not themselves.

Dib could almost feel the haunting eyes boring into him as he lie motionless on his desk. His breathing picked up significantly into a mild hyperventilation, causing him to let out a very quiet whine before feeling a hand jabbing him in the shoulder. He jumped in his seat and snapped his head to look at the kid behind him with a scowl. "What?!" He whispered.

The other flicked his head towards Zim. "Dude, he's staring right at you."

Dib's expression turned vacant and hollow as he slowly sat up and stared straight ahead, never allowing his eyes to drift off towards the direction of that mindless monster. Only the green skin was visible in the corner of his eye now.

Zim never looked away, even as Dib went out of his way to avoid looking at him. At times, small gurgling sounds came from him as he had trouble taking turns between breathing and swallowing.

The sounds were unnerving, but Dib kept his composure and continued to stare straight ahead at the white board. Besides, if Zim was planning to attack, perhaps people would finally believe that this wasn't all in his head; there were plenty of witnesses after all.

Zim stared at him continuously, eyes wide open. "..IB." He spoke slowly, causing a few people to look at the deranged student. He was still staring dead at the human he had called to, expecting an answer or at least a look by how his face strained.

Dib didn't provide him with a reply, still looking straight ahead.

Zim's expression soon darkened more as he strained that grin on his face until the corners of his mouth looked as if they'd begin to split. "IB... ANSWER!!" He shouted, making the entire classroom fall silent in frightened surprise at his outburst. They in turn looked to Dib, as he seemed to be wanting him in a way.

Along with the eyes of Zim on him, Dib could feel the eyes of every student in the classroom upon him now. With great hesitation and debate, he finally turned his head to face Zim. He felt himself being to shiver violently as he examined the strained expression on his face.

"Zim.." Dib whimpered quietly.

Zim gave that wide grin as he met his eyes, his strained angry appearance turning wild and insane once more. "IB..." He answered back to his name.

Dib's eyes widened at the chilling grin, his mouth gaped slightly as if he were about to say something, but he could form no words. The students and even the teacher watched the exchange intently, both with great confusion and fear.

Zim continued to smile insanely at him as the he looked as if he were going to speak up to him. "IB..." He spoke again, gripping hard onto his desk as it seemed to be a struggle for him to remain sitting there.

Dib slowly positioned himself to leap out of the desk at any moment as he could sense a fight coming from Zim at any moment now. He muttered lowly to himself as if formulating some kind of plan to escape.

Zim seemed to be really struggling to stay there too, and class had only began. All learning that they would have been doing had halted though at the strange events that were unfolding between the two. "Tallest... IB fault..." He spoke quietly, grin straining even more almost painfully on his features.

Tallest.. The word, and the context it was used in, made no sense to the boy. Dib shook his head slowly as he tried to figure it out, but nothing came to him. "M-my fault?" He choked out suddenly.

Zim finally stood from his seat at that, the metal chair flipping over and clattering loudly as it hit the ground. "FAULT!! IB!!" He shouted, the rest of the class wincing at the deafening clatter of the chair and the fuss that the strange kid was creating.

Dib had winced along with the rest of the class at the loud sound. He stood now and leaned towards Zim, as if he were getting ready to launch his own attack on him at any moment. "What the hell did I do, Zim?!" He squeaked out in panic.

Zim seemed very upset with him now though as he panted unevenly. He weakly began to hobble toward that side of the room now. "Kills..." He forced out as he raised his undamaged arm to make another weak grabbing motion for him.

At this, the teacher finally stood and slammed her hands on the desk in front of her in outrage. "Zim! This behaviour needs to stop right now!" She warranted in a booming voice.

Zim tensed up and came to a halt as he heard his name from her lips. He turned sharply to her, eyes wider with raging malice and insanity. "AWAY!!" He shouted as he looked ready to attack now at the teacher obstructing what he had been sharing with Dib.

She didn't seem to be taking him as seriously as Dib and the others were as she continued to speak boldly towards him. "This is ridiculous! And you're becoming more of a pain in the ass than you have been before. Now, pick your desk up and SIT DOWN!"

Dead silence fell over the class now as their attention turned to the teacher. Even they knew she had made a mistake...

Zim twitched his entire body once from rage that had seized his entire body, claws flexing at his side as he bunched his muscles up. "KILLS!!" He screeched before using the momentum built up in his bunched muscles to leap from his spot and tackle the teacher back. This action left the class speechless, compared to the normal 'fight!' chant they usually took when something similar happened.

Ear splitting cries could be heard from her as Zim mutilated her body and tore into her flesh, making some of the other students cry out as well. Dib sprinted towards the desk and vaulted himself over it to find the horrifying mess of flesh and blood before him. He fought through his terror though and reached down to grip Zim tightly by the waist, pulling his body firmly to try and dislodge him from the teacher's body.

Zim continued to screech as he was bent on shredding the elder woman that was under him. He screeched and flailed his limbs as Dib grabbed onto him, wanting desperately to get free from him. "AWAY!!! AWAY!!"

After the woman had practically been torn to shreds, Dib was finally able to pry the Irken off of her. He yanked him up on pure adrenaline and slammed him on the ground under him. Dib straddled him and pinned him to the filthy ground, struggling to keep him in his grip as he thrashed around.

"Stop.." He growled in a weak command, but those dead eyes seemed to distract him out of his right mind.

Zim panted heavily, as if about to begin hyperventilating in terror. His hands were once again coated with blood, but not Dib's or his own. "IB..." He spoke in a quivered voice, eyes staring straight through him as they could not focus.

Dib could feel his 'fight' instinct grow strong again after seeing the other in trepidation. He smiled a little, though this wasn't an inviting friendly expression. He pulled his leg back and rammed his knee into Zim's midsection mercilessly.

"You're still pathetic.." He hissed through gritted teeth, though he was sure he would regret being this bold later on.

Zim choked and wheezed automatically as he pressed into the sensitive region of his spooch. He screeched loudly as he convulsed heavily and tried to rip his hands away to get the human off his body. He had enough sense to realize he was dangerous to his current being.

Dib's expression hardened as his grip tightened on the other's wrists to plant him tighter on the ground, leaning down towards Zim's face now. "Useless.. Is that what yout Tallest called you?" He spoke with the built up frustration and agony he had been feeling towards the other since this had all began.

Zim screamed immediately after that, thrashing even harder as he snapped at his face. "NO!! NO!!" He thrashed, those tears flooding the corners of his contacts and burning below his eyes.

Dib only moved his face out of Zim's range, squeezing the wrists a bit more harshly now. This was sure to end disastrously for him later on, but for now he was too focused on getting even. "I'm sure they did several times." He sneered spitefully.

"NO!!! IB!!" Zim screeched, baring his teeth at him in rage. "IB..FAULT!!" He continued to accuse forcefully, thrashing every which way to try and break free. "RAAAHHH!!!" He roared loudly in frustrated insanity.

Dib had finally come to the realization that he had pushed the other too far now as his smug attitude quickly faded into one of dread. He sprang off of Zim and dashed out of the door, spriting madly towards the back exit. He was delayed though as he ran right into another teacher, who scolded him for being out of class now.

"Please, I have to get away from Zim! He's going to kill me!" He pleaded as the man began to escort him back to his class.

Down the hall there was the echoing of scraping nails on the chipped painted walls. "IB!!" His voice came after the scraping of nails, very persistent on his attempts to rid himself of the human. It was as if he were calling out to him almost playfully, yet obviously deliriously out of bloodthirst.

"T-THAT'S HIM!" Dib screamed and jerked himself out of the man's grip, continuing his original path towards the back door.

The sounds of scraping nails got quieter, but Zim was still undoubtedly giving the chase. The determined psychopath seemed to truly want nothing but bloodshed now.

Dib seemed to miscalculate where exactly he was going as he ended up at the playground now. He cursed to himself as he steadily made his way towards the back field where a rather tall chain linked fence stood. He eyed it for a moment before glancing over his shoulder to see Zim standing in the doorway now. Even from a distance, the blank eyes were just as terrifying as they were up close.

The Irken's hands were gripping either side of the door frame, seeming to be keeping himself in balance with the cheap wooden frame. His jaws parted in a demented smile, as if delighted to see his prey again and cornered. "IB..." He croaked weakly as he widened his eyes impossibly more and hobbled down each step like it were an extreme hurdle he was overcoming. His eyes never left the pale form of the teen soon-to-be murder victim, seeming to imagine the color of his innards in those solid colored eyes. One arm reached forward again, as if to snatch away the very distance keeping them apart as he began the slow trek toward his prey to give a sure to be killing blow."My...IB..."

As Dib stood outside of his home, he couldn't help the overwhelming loneliness that washed over him. After the neighbours reaction, he highly doubted anyone would take him seriously. Not like they had taken him seriously before anyway.

On top of the extreme aloneness, the boy was feeling a massive amount of paranoia. His house had proven to be just as dangerous a place to be now, and after seeing how easily and quickly Zim could infiltrate it, he realized he would never feel at peace inside of it. He would always be looking around himself, checking to make sure he was truly alone.

Dib took only small, slow steps towards the house now, his eyes flicking everywhere as he scanned for any threats. He was quite jumpy now though, so when a small leaf flew by him he jumped backwards a step and let out a high pitched scream. He began to breathe rapidly until realizing it was just a leaf before taking a deep breath and staring forward again, his eyes continuing to scan his environment rapidly.

There didn't seem to be anyone around though of suspicion. The only thing truly fearful that might be in his house was his own sister. As for Zim, he could be anywhere at this point after he had left the door open. Perhaps he had left, maybe he was too lost to find his way out of the door on the other hand.

Dib stopped outside of the doorway a moment as he examined the door slowly. There were a few scratches on it, but nothing that caught his attention. He continued inside and slammed the door behind him. He assumed Gaz was still out somewhere, otherwise she would have closed the door by now. He was still alone...

With that, the boy made it up the stairs very slowly and towards his bedroom with the hope that he would get at least some rest. He avoided looking at the mass of blood stains that soiled his carpet now as he rushed right towards his bed. He lay down and buried himself in his blankets and closed his eyes as he shivered violently, whispering nonsense to himself which eventually lulled him into a rather light sleep. His mind wouldn't allow him to sleep for very long or very comfortably though.

It was a little later, when it had grown darker into the night when things started to act up again. From the corner of his room, there were sounds of weak whines every few seconds, followed by a series of what sounded like rushed quiet murmurs. With the window busted open, it wasn't hard for something to get into his room.

The repetitive sounds roused the boy almost as soon as they started, causing him to spring up and out from under the blankets. His eyes flicked hyperly towards the corner where the sounds seemed to be emanating from, almost growing louder by the second. Dib let out a low whine as he slowly brought his knees to his chest and closed his eyes, starting to murmur to himself as a way to try and distract himself from the chilling sounds.

The sounds halted quickly at the sound of someone shifting off a spring bed. Silence followed for quite a while before the wind blew through the broken window, carrying a word with it.

"...IB..."

Dib's eyes sprung open at the unnerving sound of that name as he began to shiver steadily now out of pure trepidation. He glared at the window now, watching for any signs of someone, or something, outside of it. Upon realizing nothing was there, he came to the conclusion that it was all in his head.

The fantasy of Zim arriving to school as his normal self sprung into his mind again, making him chuckle eerily to himself at the thought.

"Everything.. Will... Be fine tomorrow." He muttered to himself.

However, Zim would still be that same demented creature he was the day before, somehow being able to hobble himself to the skool building. He wasn't as great being silent in class, but the teacher never cared about his loud screeches or gurgles.

Dib looked back towards the wall now, though the dark shadows cast along the floor and wall caught his attention now, created by the large tree outside of his window. The eerie breeze rocked the tree, causing the shadows to move along the wall. He stared blankly at them, watching them with great intensity as if something were about to pop out of them at any given moment. And after two minutes of watching through strained eyes, the unnerving form of the demented Irken began to take shape again, only this time the shadow seemed to stand apart from the wall. The only details were those blank eyes along with that terrifying smile, creating the illusion that Zim really was standing right in his bedroom again. Dib shook his head and brought his hands up to grab handfuls of his hair, digging his nails into his scalp.

"Go.. Away..." He whimpered.

And then came that eerie 'e' noise he made when he attempted to give a laugh. The idea that the Irken could be anywhere at any given moment was also not a settling thought.

Dib flinched at the sound and ripped at his hair now, actually managing to pull out a few small wads of it. His eyes remained peeled, staring at the shadow as it seemed to move inches closer to him everytime he would look away for a brief moment.

In his closet sat a pile of clothes that had gathered from the week of tossing them aside after being worn. Now they looked as if they could come to life as the Irken at any moment and just grin at him with those eyes staring into him. That, along with the lingering shadow, seemed to be putting him over the edge as he began to hyperventilate and shiver even more violently, the shapes beginning to look more realistic the longer he stared at them.

Even though Zim was not there with him, in a sense, he was. With every thought the human made it gave life to these Zims that he was creating in his absence. In a way, Zim was still with him.

The shadow that had been steadily getting closer to him had seemed to reach the edge of his bed now, staring at him with a grimacing smile. Dib held his breath now, staring in terror lowering his hands from his head to grab the blanket and cover his face half way. The figure just stared, tormenting the boy with each second that ticked by.

After a while, the figure opened its jaws to reveal it's rows of sharp teeth, then it sprung towards him at a rapid speed, drawing a loud, high pitched wail from the boy's throat.

Seconds later, Gaz had slammed the door open, which drew another scream from Dib as he jumped violently, just barely staying on his bed.

"It's 1 AM... I have a test tomorrow... Do you mind shutting your stupid mouth?!" Gaz spat at him, feeling no remorse for scaring him so badly.

Dib took a moment to collect himself, drawing deep breaths as he attempted to bring down the rate of his breathing. "G-Gaz... Zim... He's.. Going to kill me." He managed to choke out.

His sister growled, reaching over towards the light switch and flicking it up, though the bulb still hadn't been changed so the room remained dark. She left for a moment and returned with a flashlight, turning it on and scanning the room. Upon further examination, nothing looked out of the ordinary. Except the fact that the window was broken open which he was sure to get hell over later.

Gaz groaned and shone the light towards Dib now, shining it right in his eyes intentionally. "Dib. I don't know what kind of stupid drugs you're on, but there is nothing here. "

"But, Gaz!" Dib started, though he was interrupted.

"If I hear another sound from you tonight, I will deck you so hard in your giant head you won't know your own name anymore." She threatened before backing up and beginning to draw the door closed. "Now...GO TO SLEEP!" She screamed, then slammed the door all the way shut.

"GAZ, WAIT!" Dib pleaded, but she had completely ignored him.

The lights were turned down again, and the darkness returned to the room. In turn, the shadows and forms re-awoke to come out and torment him a little longer. It was a long six hours until first day light too.

Dib hadn't gotten even a minute of rest that night. His eyes remained peeled open as the the shadow had actually seemed to be on the foot of his bed now, sitting on it's knees and staring directly at him with the chilling expression. Meanwhile, the figure in his closet remained far from him, staring at him from the spot where the clothing actually sat.

He seemed numb to it now as he could only watch the figures unspeakable terror. Only the small whines of the wind would snap him from his trances, causing him to crouch in a fetal position and cover his ears until they had gone away.

Dib was exhausted at this point, but there was no way he would find rest tonight. The only thing he could do was wait the night out with his Zims as they silently, and gladly, tortured him out of his right mind.

Upon arriving home on that quiet, eerie night, Dib was relieved to find that no insane Irken had followed him. He was alone now, and he had the feeling he would have a peaceful night in contrast to the others he had experienced.

As Dib had made his way into the house and up to his room, the lingering smell of day old blood hit him. It wasn’t quite as harsh and foul as the pile of junk found in Zim’s closet. However, it was enough to make the boy groan in both agony and nausea, but the smell didn’t seem to stop him from hobbling to his bed and allowing himself to collapse upon it.

At least he was safe for now, and tonight would be one of the only nights open for him to sleep without much worry. Zim was still too weak to come for him, and the computer was keeping him indoors for tonight.

As Dib lay on his bed with his eyes pealed wide open, he felt himself almost grow drowsy as time proceeded. He even fell into a deep and much needed sleep within fifteen minutes or so. Thankfully, he wasn't disturbed at all through the night by visits or near-death experiences. Just calm sleep—maybe ridden with nightmares and uncertainty—but sleep nonetheless.

Dib had fallen into such a deep sleep that it felt like only minutes went by before his alarm clock was heard blaring in his ears from the nightstand beside him. He jumped awake, grumbling a bit as he reached over to slam the ‘off’ button on the top of his clock.

Dib’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the light that was filtering into his room from the window. After he was able to fully open his eyes, he looked back to his nightstand to see that there was a message flashing on the message machine, alerting him to a missed and probably important call.

The boy squinted at the blinking light for a moment before reaching for his glasses, which were still smeared with blood, and placing them on his face. He sat up now and pressed the blinking light, then waited for the message to play.

"This is Doctor Gaul's office, calling to confirm Dib Membrane's appointment with us at two forty this afternoon. We hope to see you with us today!" A cheery woman's voice spoke through the recording.

Dib let out a tired yawn, letting himself fall back lazily on the bed. He had decided that he wasn’t going to school since the appointment would cut into class anyway, and he didn’t want to risk encountering the alien today. Though, something told him Zim wouldn’t be there either that day...

It wasn't even certain if Zim would have gone to school after last night. It was a miracle he even got himself to the door of his own base every morning the way it was.All there was to do now was wait nervously until the time came around for his appointment.

Dib found himself wondering about Zim now as he lay staring blankly at the ceiling. He wondered what the Irken was doing now, or how well he was doing for that matter. The thought of losing him still created some discomfort in the boy’s already disturbed mind which caused him to let out a small whimper.

Any day the Irken could simply collapse and never move again, at least at the rate his body was deteriorating at. He was becoming ill, choking on his blood, and even harming himself out of this insanity.

Dib was able to force himself out of bed now and stretched before heading lazily towards the bathroom. Once he pushed through the cracked door and flicked on the lights, his reflection in the large mirror over the sink caught his eye and he took this time to fully examine himself for the first time since this all began.

The boy’s once clear, pale cheeks were now red and scarred from where the Irken’s sharp claws had run deep into his flesh. His hair was quite the mess; his once perfectly formed ‘scythe’ lock atop his head now a matted mess. Despite the deep sleep he had the night before, his eyes were plagued with dark circles under them; they had to be from the constant stress and paranoia though. Finally, he examined his clothes. His shirt had practically been torn to shreds at the hands of Zim and large spots of blood stained the fabric.

Of course if he were to show up at the psychiatrist office like this, they would probably instantly commit him. It would probably be in best interest to at least clean himself up and look a bit tidy.

After taking a long look at himself and breathing a heavy sigh, Dib turned to the shower and turned the water until it was nearly at a boiling point. He stripped his clothes off and hopped in rather eagerly since he often took hot showers when he was under much stress. It was definitely much needed and appreciated today.

No one was there to disturb him either while he showered. Gaz was at school, Professor Membrane at work always, and Zim wherever he decided to go.

For once in the last few days, Dib wasn’t thinking or worrying about Zim. In fact, he wasn’t thinking of anything at all really. He allowed his mind to go blank as the warm shower and the sound of the running water relaxed him greatly.

After about twenty minutes, he finally emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and he headed back to his bedroom. He headed to his closet first to pick out some clothes before a small box hit his forehead before plopping onto the floor. He bent down to grab it before realizing this was the box that held all of the pictures of Zim he had collected over the years. He quickly dressed himself before sitting cross legged on the floor with the box in front of him, taking a deep breath and opening the box and sifting through the years of history within the photos.

The alien looked so different in his photos compared to how he looked now. He was bright eyed and loud, eyes a blazing crimson filled with fierce determination and persistence. His skin was an almost pretty jade color with his demeanor always proud and tall. It was shockingly horrible how different he looked now...

Eventually, after hours of just sitting there and doing nothing, 2:15 came around. Dib decided to head out at this time so not to risk showing up late. He gave the photos one last glance where they sat on the floor before making his way out of his house to face the stares from people he was sure he would receive as he made his way to the office.

The office wasn’t too hard to find, in fact it was along the route he took on his way to school. He hesitated to go inside though, staring up at the door as if it were judging him as well now. After much disputation, he pushed through the doors and crept inside almost like a frightened child might do.

There were a couple of people sitting on seats, some looking more disturbed than others. The nurse behind the counter was taking patients and new patient's information with a large practiced smile.

Dib remained quite upon observing this and slowly made his way to an empty seat in the corner of the room. He wrapped his trench coat around his body defensively now as he stared at the others in the room.

The patients all kept to themselves, looking about as nervous as Dib did. Some rocked back in forth in their seats, while others cried quietly to themselves. The nurse called his name with a sweet smile, seeing he was quite young.

Dib jumped slightly at his name, quickly standing and heading towards the front desk with a weak smile as he tried to appear friendly. He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous here, but he hated the fact that he was acting so much like a three-year-old.

The nurse smiled sympathetically. "I just need you to fill out a small clipboard really quick before you go back to Doctor Gaul, okay hun?" She spoke, hoping to soothe his nerves.

“Yeah.” Dib replied quietly as he took the clipboard and retreated to his corner, avidly filling out the papers. After five minutes or so, he returned to the desk and waited for the woman’s acknowledgement before doing anything more.

She smiled and took it from him with a soft 'thank you' in reply. After he went back to his seat, it only took another ten minutes before they called him back to see the doctor.

Dib stood, again, and walked hesitantly towards the doctor’s office towards the back of the room. He paused in the doorway of the doctor’s office though, again waiting for some kind of acknowledgement.

A slightly grayed man sat at a desk, sifting through papers. He looked up and nodded his head a bit to him. "You must be the Membrane kid.."

Dib scowled a bit at this before speaking. “Yep.. I’m Dib.” He asserted as he wasn’t quite fond of being called ‘the Membrane kid’.

"Please, come take a seat." Dr.Gaul spoke, motioning to a couch across from his desk. "We've been yearning to get you here for years now."

Dib walked inside and sat stiffly on the couch that was being motioned to. “Of course. I’m sure my father has told you all about how ‘insane’ I am.”

"Yes yes... but from what your father told me, you think there's an alien after you?" Dr.Gaul questioned, raising a brow. "Tell me... does this sound rational in your mind?"

Dib crossed his arms over his chest and sighed deeply before replying again. “Of course it doesn’t sound right to you people. But why would I lie about an alien? Something I have been studying my whole life! And you think I would actually lie about my life being in danger? I’m not that desperate for attention.” After a quick pause, his eyes flicked back up the doctor as his hands uncrossed and pointed up to his scarred cheeks. “These scars are from that damned alien!”

The balding man held his hands up innocently, not wanting to rile the insane child up. "Now now, I never called you a liar. We have a thing for this called schizophrenia where you see things that others don't. This 'alien' that you're seeing may just be a manifestation of your fears and anger that has taken life to you." He replied. "The scars? Marks your skin has made as a result of your brain convincing you so hard that there was damage inflicted by this figment, that it actually caused the skin to become wounded. That, or you do them yourself without being aware of it during these attacks as a way of also showing that your mind is controlling this figment, and therefore controlling the pain."

Dib shook his head in a silent denial of everything Dr. Gual had just told him. “This.. This isn’t schizophrenia.. This is real, doctor. Just.. no one is around when he attacks. He waits until I am alone. But he attacked my teacher!” Dib’s ramblings slowly came to a pause again as he looked almost desperately at the doctor. “Do.. do you really think it’s in my head?”

Dr.Gaul sighed and leaned back a bit in his seat. "Dib, I've dealt with many cases like these. All of them sound almost identical to yours, with the details tweaked of course. My point is, I do believe that this is nothing more than a mere delusion you are having. There is no alien Dib, there isn't anyone out to get you, this is just in your head. And I'm here to help you smooth that out, and make this projection your brain is making go away."

Dib leaned back in his own seat as well, looking down almost in devastation at the thought that this could actually just be in his head. Everything the doctor had suggested seemed plausible.. But the thought that Zim might have actually just been an illusion through all of these years was horrible to think about. “But... My class.. They saw him attack my teacher.. They saw me stop him.”

"Are you sure Dib?" The doctor questioned. "Are you sure they didn't see you attack her? Perhaps you saw this alien... but if you are controlling him with your mind.. then perhaps it was actually you."

Dib’s head sprung back up now to stare Dr. Gual in the eye now. “No! I would never just attack someone!” Still, Dib paused some more as he thought through everything that was going on in his head now. “Well... What do you suggest we do then?” he mumbled.

The doctor smiled when he saw he was willing to work with him. "Well, there is some medication that should stop your brain from producing this fake image." He explained. "It should calm your nerves as well."

“I see.” Dib replied shortly at the much dreaded thought of medication.

The doctor nodded his head a bit. "Just give it a try..." He convinced. "They will help your mind get better... you can be part of society."

Dib simply nodded as he brought his knees up to his chest, much like he did when the terrifying shadows of Zim had haunted him a couple nights ago. “So, when do I get it then?”

"As soon as I write the prescription and send it to the nurse. She'll get it all there for you." He replied. "Now tell me... how long have you seen this alien?"

Dib closed his eyes for a moment as if struggling to remember this information. “Five years I think. But he wasn’t insane until a month ago.. He started attacking me a couple days ago though when I approached him at lunch.”

The doctor hummed as he began scribbling on a notepad as he listened. "So... you've seen him for five years?" He concluded. "Has anything particularly tragic or upsetting happened within the last month or so that might have triggered this change?"

“Uh.. He was sent here to ‘conquer Earth’, but it turned out that his mission lied and his leaders actually banished him here. He blamed it on me since I was the only one who knew about his plans and stopped all of them.”

The doctor was quiet for a moment as he continued to write. He finally set his pen down and looked up at him. "So, what I'm hearing is you feel that the world has robbed you of something, and you feel that your 'mission' here in life is a big waste and you feel like the world is cheating you of something. And you blame yourself subconsciously because of your differences."

Dib cocked his head a little at this. The doctor seemed to have an explanation to shut him down about everything and he found this to be quite annoying. But, he kept his opinions to himself. “I guess so..”

The doctor hummed and nodded a bit. "How are you liked in school? Do you have any friends? Are you bullied?"

Dib sighed as he stared out of the window behind Dr. Gual, replying in a rather monotone voice. “I stay quiet and I have no friends. Yes, I’m bullied sometimes, but not nearly as bad as it was in the past.”

"Are you physically bullied ever?" The doctor questioned. "How's your home life? Is it happy? Have both your parents? Any siblings?"

“I’ve been beaten up a couple times in the locker room by this one kid...” Dib paused as he considered the other question, the let out a sarcastic laugh as if the answer should’ve been obvious. “My home life? I never see my father, my mother is dead and my little sister hates me.”

He frowned a bit as he wrote this down. "Are you depressed then? Do you feel sad a lot?" He questioned, as if sympathetic for him.

Dib nodded slowly, letting out another sigh. “Yeah.. I guess so. I am lonely and quite sad most of the time..”

"Do you think maybe your mind created this alien as a way to keep your mind and time occupied so you wouldn't feel so lonely? And the more you believed it and sought after him, the more real and more personality he began to have?" The doctor questioned, almost putting a challenge to what he thought.

Dib’s eyes wandered back to the doctor now, raising an eyebrow slightly. “I guess. And I’m scared that I’m losing him, even if he is trying to kill me..”

The doctor handed over a box of tissues to him. "I think you're worried of losing yourself... I will do my best to help make you better..." He assured him.

"That's up to you. I'm paid for the full hour, but you're free to leave and consult the nurse if you please." He replied as he handed him a prescription pad. "Just hand this to her. You'll need to take three at a time twice daily."

Dib frowned as he found this to be quite a heavy dose, but he didn’t argue or say anything against it as he reached for the paper. “If you don’t have anymore questions for me I guess I’ll go..”

"Well, unless you want to tell me a little about your history and where things started going bad, I really don't think just asking you questions will suffice." Dr.Gaul replied.

Dib shrugged and relaxed back into the seat, looking back towards the window as he drew a deep breath. “Everything was fine before Zim lost his mind. In a way, he gave me something to live for since I have waited my whole life to meet an alien..”

He hummed softly at that and frowned. "So you've named him?" The doctor commented. "Zim?"

Dib perked up a little almost surprised himself that he had mentioned the Irken’s name. He opened his mouth a little and let out a small breath, carrying with it a couple words. “Yeah... Zim..”

Sorry these are coming out a lot slower. XD Kitty and I are just sick and don't have tiiime.

This was actually done an hour ago, I just wanted a new preview pic. I don't like it. I was lazy because I am hacking up a lung over here. XD But whatever! Naked Deeeeeb. And none of you say he is pleasureing himself or I will kill you. HE'S SAD OKAY?

Dib bit down firmly on his lip before shakily stepping forward and pulling him slowly up the creaky stairs. Since it was dark, he squinted his eyes in an attempt to see a bit clearer in the small amount of light that he had. As he slowly made his way up the stairs, whispering the Irken’s name in an attempt to draw him out from his hiding place. In a situation such as this, Dib preferred to know where Zim was rather than him be out of sight with the possibility of a surprise attack.

After a minute of crawling painfully slow up the stairs, he finally made it to the top with the sight of the illuminated room at the end of the hallway; the same room his sister’s decomposing body lay on the metal table.That light was still on, but there weren’t any sounds. Either the Irken was being especially quiet, or he wasn't there at all.

Dib’s feet were planted deeply where he stood, hesitating to go any closer to the room. Memories and dreadful images of what lay in that room began to torture him again the longer he stood staring at that room. He wouldn’t budge any further towards the room now, so he began to make small noises to try and coax the other from wherever it was that he was hiding.

Zim was not coming or responding to the sounds, not even with hisses or gurgles that he usually made. It was just quiet, but there was a small shift in the shadow in the room at the end of the hall.

Dib squinted his eyes a bit more as the shadow shifted. He remained completely still for about thirty seconds before his undying curiosity got the best of him and he forced his foot forward in a small step. Before his mind even had a moment to protest, he was stepping silently towards the dreaded room ever so slowly as not to cause anymore noise. The closer he got, the more he could see the shadow moving. Back and forth, but it never seemed to shift to get up and leave the room.

Dib was in front of the doorway now, though he stood off to the side just so his left eye poked around the corner to look into the room. He breathed slowly and quietly as he took in everything he saw now.

Zim was in there, in full view as he stared off at the wall. And there lie Gaz's body, parts eaten away and her clothing in shreds. The deranged Irken's hand shakily moved through her hair, petting it back slowly as he stared at the wall.

The chilling scene caused Dib’s eyes to widen and his mouth the gape slightly, a small chill running down his spine. His breathing grew a little stiff and shallow for a moment but it had never gotten too loud as to give his position away.

Zim seemed too busy with the female though, stroking over her hair. The normal purple color was matted together with dried blood, her fierce aggression no more. Zim leaned down to her neck, almost seeming to be kissing it at first glance.

Though horrified, Dib couldn’t help but be a little curious as well. The scene was almost sentimental, though horrible nonetheless. He couldn’t help but wonder what was going through Zim’s deranged mind in this moment, or even if anything was going through his mind at all.

It was strange to see the calm in the beast after brutally killing her. He continued to stroke her hair, face pressed slightly to her cut neck as his lekku lowered back almost in a soothed manner.

Dib wasn’t focused on his sister’s mangled body now, but more on the Irken’s state now. Zim combed through her hair almost affectionately as he laid there. Maybe a small part of his surviving conscious forced him to feel a bit of remorse toward his actions.

Even as he avoided gazing at Gaz’s body, the stench was something that just couldn’t be ignored. Dib had held himself from causing too much of a fuss over it, but now it was unbearable. As much as he tried to hold back, he couldn’t suppress the audible gag that escaped his throat. His eyes widened as all of his movement ceased as he knew Zim surely took notice of such a disturbance.

Zim's head snapped up at the sickened sound, seeming startled to find him slipping in under the radar. His lekku quirked back up as his lips parted in a snarl, crawling over his sister as he never took his eyes from him. He then sprang from the table, screeching as he tackled the human out to the hallway.

Dib let out a small squeal as the other lunged onto him. He kept his balance for three steps until he finally collided with the floor violently, grunting in pain as the back of his head hit harshly against the surface. The boy’s eyes opened wide and they flicked back and forth as he looked for the Irken.

Zim growled as he crawled to him, lekku still perked as he eyed him dangerously. He soon molded to his body in a similar way he had with Gaz, his hand shakily stroking that scythe lock there.

Dib began to panic a little, the rate of his breathing increasing slightly. He dared not to even blink his eyes now as he lay helplessly in the other’s grip. Zim pressed his face to his neck like he did with Gaz, giving a sound like a distressed whine as he clutched him. It was almost like he felt very trapped and depressed, only wanting a hug to soothe his poor broken mind.

In a way, Dib could almost feel this sense of depression and forced himself to calm down for Zim’s sake. Though, he was still on edge and didn’t allow himself to move a muscle, only to calm his breathing.

Zim breathed heavily into his neck, seeming very distressed as he clutched onto him. It must be different from holding a cold corpse, as he rubbed his face against his neck as if to nuzzle it.

After a minute more or so of no attacks, no biting or threats to claw his face off, Dib allowed his body to go almost completely lax in Zim’s arms and closed his eyes. It was odd... He didn’t feel there was a threat now. If anything, he felt more relaxed with the other now, more so than he had in quite a while.

Zim seemed less tense the second Dib loosened his body. Without the belief that the other would spring on him, he was actually pretty gentle. His arms loosened from their desperate grip to a similar calm hold like he had with Gaz. The way his behavior fluctuated was almost medically fascinating.

Dib inhaled stiffly before opening his eyes to look back up at the other. After a minute of going back and forth through all of the stupid ideas in his mind, he lifted a hand and very lightly placed it on one of Zim’s, almost in a way to try and comfort him. He hoped this wouldn’t provoke an attack though..

Zim looked up sharply at this, staring at him almost fearfully. He didn't seem to want to fight today, and was almost pleading him with his eyes not to.

Dib was aware in the small shift of Zim’s behaviour now, his thumb running ever so smoothly over the other’s hand. “It’s... Alright...” He whispered almost inaudibly.

Zim breathed a bit heavily, as if fearing what the other was going to do. One second, he wanted to kill him and destroy his sanity, while the next he wanted to hold him. Maybe the pills were stabilizing Dib's mind, which in turn was starting to stabilize Zim.

What if Dr. Gaul had been right after all?

Even with Zim’s slight fear, Dib stuck firm to his attempt to reassure him and continued to stroke the other’s hand with his thumb.

As he lay here, he couldn’t help but try and put all of the pieces together his head. Everything the doctor had told him just made so much sense now. Zim was appearing less frequently, and now he seemed to be calm and almost affectionate in a way. But this couldn’t all just be in his head.. It was all too real to just be a delusion... Especially this moment. Dib tried to force the thought away though as it began to distress him again and he didn’t want to upset the deadly Irken which held him in his arms now.

Zim eventually calmed enough to resume the creepy cuddling. He held him close and breathed into his neck. This would also call into question his psychiatrist's accusation of him being a little homosexual. Of course, the fact that Dib was actually somewhat enjoying this moment only heightened the chance of this being a correct accusation. And to his memory, he could actually recall a few times where the boy had found Zim somewhat.. Intriguing. Of course, he didn’t exactly know why he felt this way at times, but he wouldn’t deny now that there was some sort of attraction in the past.

Zim continued to hold onto him, portraying that he didn't want to let him go anytime soon. One hand continued to pet his head, while he kept his lips at his neck, as if contemplating whether to kiss or bite.

Dib closed his eyes lightly, breathing deeply and slowly in an attempt to keep the other from biting the soft flesh there. His thumb never stopped caressing the Irken’s hand almost in the way he had rubbed Einstein’s cheek to calm him down.

It was strange as it seemed to have the same effect on him as the dog. His eyes even closed after a moment as he laid there against him. It would be the perfect opportunity to kill him and be rid of the horror, but no matter how badly Dib wanted this nightmare to be over, there was no way he could bring himself to kill Zim. Just the very thought of him being dead scared him, so this was out of the question. Dib simply sat there in the deadly alien’s arms, completely vulnerable to any surprise attacks.

Zim gave a sound, almost like he was trying to purr, but also sounding like he was in the middle of drowning. He opened his jaws and bit into his neck, but not very hard.

At this, Dib’s eyes opened slowly and he looked over to Zim in a bit of discomfort. Even though the grip was soft, he wasn’t too fond of the razor sharp teeth being clamped on such a vital part of his body. His thumb continued to caress the others hand though, as if this were the only thing keeping him at bay. But, Zim's teeth never actually broke the skin as he held the sensitive flesh captive between the razors. He nibbled lightly, sending light tingles through the skin as though he might break it. This caused the boy to shiver slightly in the others grasp, sighing slightly in an attempt to keep himself calm for both of their sakes. He was in no mood to fight today either, and he was determined to keep the other calm as long as he could.

It almost seemed like a love bite now as he flexed his jaws to prick it gently. He tightened his hand in his hair almost painfully as he grabbed a fistful.

At this sudden grip, Dib let out a small squeak and clenched his eyes firmly shut again. He naturally leaned into the other now as well, as if anticipating more.

Zim growled lowly, but it didn't sound too threatening. He moved down to his collarbone and bit, handling him a bit rougher than he did Gaz. Dib opened an eye at this and took a deep breath and gripped the others hand slightly tighter, as if silently pleading for him not to harm him now.

Zim growled again as he pushed his hand down into the carpet to keep it there. Maybe this is how it had started off with Gaz; Zim trying to reach her through somewhat struggled kind touches, and Gaz was too violent and moody to accept that and fought him, which resulted in her death.

Dib remained calm, however, as he refused to end up with the same fate his sister faced. He let out a small sigh, which seemed to be mixed with a whimper as he pressed into the other again.

Zim soon relaxed his roughness again as he still held a fistful of hair, but more like a lover would do while in a heated make out session. He pressed the smooth area where his nose would be to the others neck and rubbed it gently.

Dib leaned his head back slightly at this touch. He still wasn’t able to wrap his mind around the fact that he was laying here with this monster and he hadn’t turned to hurt him yet; it was hard to tell what was going on in that malfunctioning brain. He seemed to almost believe Dib was a close friend, even lover with how gentle he was being currently. It was strange to see such a rough and violent alien be so... tender.

Even though Zim was tender now, his mood could turn at any moment and he could easily rip the him to shreds, and he was well aware of it. The worst part of it all was that Zim was hard to read in this insane state of mind, so an attack was nearly undetectable. Dib began to wonder now if this were some kind of trap, but he enjoyed this moment of peace between them nonetheless.

Zim soon got a bit more aggressive and began handling him a bit rougher. He crawled over Dib so he was staring down at his face, his own still that same blank one. "IB..." He muttered as he clutched the front of his shirt, unsure if he wanted to shake him to pieces or hold him close. Of course, this sudden turn worried the boy and he tensed for a moment, his eyes widening to stare into those hollow eyes. He remembered that he needed to remain calm though and took a deep breath, his body loosening again when he exhaled.

Zim still clutched onto his shirt tightly, though his outer shell began to crack away just from the expression on his face. He seemed to look almost depressed, lowering his head and pressing it into his chest, trembling weakly.

Dib’s eyes flicked down towards the other now, staring at him with some concern for both himself and Zim. Being in Zim’s arms was worrisome enough, but now with the Irken on top of him like this he was even more vulnerable and he wanted to get out of this position as soon as he could. After several minutes passed without a single sound from Zim, Dib raised a trembling hand up and very lightly touched the back of Zim’s head, whispering very quietly, “Z-Zim..?”

With that, Zim began to scream. He leaned his head back as he screamed, trembling and seizing his body up simultaneously. He continued his horrifying meltdown for about ten minutes before he went limp again. After such a long time of Zim screaming at an ear-splitting volume, Dib was almost disoriented when he had gone quiet again. He was completely helpless now; a sudden movement now was sure to spark an attack from Zim, especially after such a violent tantrum. Dib lightly placed his shaking right hand on the others shoulder, rubbing it hesitantly with his thumb like he had been doing before in an attempt to keep him calm.

Zim wheezed for a moment, seeming to be out of breath. He suddenly squeezed onto Dib's hand, as much as he could manage. He muttered something unheard, trying to get it out of his lungs with the last bit of air present.

"H..p..."

Dib winced at the tight squeeze, but the small pain was soon forgotten at the sound of the other’s attempt to speak. His eyes widened and his breathing turned to small pants as he tried to decipher exactly what the Irken had tried to say. He took a deep breath before ever so slowly sitting up as not to startle to the other. He supported Zim with his free hand so he remained on his lap as he sat upwards. Soon, the two were staring eye to vacant eye. After getting over the small shock of those shallow eyes, Dib tilted his head slightly as he remembered what the other had attempted to gargle. “W-what did y-you say...?” He asked quietly.

Zim gripped onto his collar again, panted harshly. He looked up at him, a faint spark of his old self appearing for no more than a mere second as he shouted at him. "HELP ME!!!"

Dib found himself completely frozen again as the other approached him slowly. It was almost as if time had just stopped completely as each step created more and more anticipation and fear. He could hardly even bat an eye as his gaze was glued on to Zim with no intention of looking anywhere else.

Zim took agonizingly slow steps to him, the laughing dying down to weak 'e' sounds of an eerie laugh. He stopped when he had reached him, eyes turning wild almost instantly. He leaned forward and continued that grin of insanity, looking like he was a wrong breath away from a total meltdown. "I...want to....." The rest turned into garbled nonsense, but he paused, as if he were waiting for an answer now.

Dib didn't seem to catch on to this though as he was too intently focused on the other's horrifying expression, sending shivers down his spine the longer he stared at it. He considered running, but of course his body wouldn't even allow him to move a finger as he stood perfectly still. It was as if he were playing dead while standing there against the wall.

That smile soon strained more as the other remained quiet. His eyes narrowed faintly as he listened to the silence. "..ANSWER!! ANSWER!!" He suddenly screeched at him, gripping onto his collar and yanking at him so hard it ripped the material. "ANSWER!!!"

The boy's eyes slammed shut at the sudden yank as a small cry escaped his throat. He took a moment to comprehend what was being screamed at him before opening his left eye very slowly, his body tensing up in the other's grip. "I-I don't know what you want.." Dib grumbled through gritted teeth.

Zim seemed even more unhappy with this, screaming as he continued to yank at him. "ANSWER!!!" He shouted as he threw his body weight against him and began tearing at his hair, pulling out small clumps as he did before moved his target to his arm again. Claws sank right back into the skin and flesh of it before he bit down hard and erased that expression momentarily to attempt to tear off a chunk.

Dib gasped deeply as his hair was torn at mercilessly as he didn't even attempt to scream. That is, until his arm was being torn at again. A terrible shriek of pain emanated from his lips as the teeth sunk into his flesh and he thrashed against the grip several times, but it only made his situation worse. Each movement only let the teeth squirm deeper into his soft flesh and the pain was making his desperate to get away. With that, Dib used his free arm to reach under Zim's wig and grab a hold of one of the long antenna that lay under it. Without another moment of hesitation, he yanked down on it several times. Hard.

Zim let go immediately and screeched in pain, collapsing down onto his side on the dirty floor of the cafeteria. His sides heaved with the effort of each individual breath he took, eyes still staring out blankly. "...Away.." He breathed weakly, as if all the air rushed from his lungs all at once.

Dib was finally able to bring himself to move as he wasted no time in throwing himself off of the wall and slamming through the double doors of the cafeteria. He ran as fast as he could through the vacant hallway, not even bothering to enter his class room as he rushed right past it. He found himself at the main entrance of the skool within seconds and slammed right through those as well. Once outside, he stopped to catch his breath and paced around the top step anxiously as he examined the seeping wound on his fore arm, letting out a soft groan as he did so.

"It's fine, Dib.. It's fine." The boy muttered to himself as he checked behind him several times to make sure Zim wasn't behind him.

But now, he had given Zim another motive to come at him again in homicidal rage. He had yanked on the most sensitive organ an Irken possessed, and Zim had clearly expressed he had means of trying to hurt him anyway. It hadn't even taken Zim that long to pull himself back up from the ground, wanting to find the human again. He wanted to say things to him, but in no way would his mind let him. The longer he spoke, the more enraged he became with him.

However, Dib remained outside of the building for several moments. He made himself believe that Zim was still squirming around on the floor and the thought of it seemed to settled him. He continued to check the door though as he stood outside because in the back of his mind he knew Zim had to be close behind him.

"Soon..." He whispered, again to himself, "All of this will be over soon..."

Eventually, when he turned around, there he did stand. Zim gave him the same vacant look, that smile more aggressive now. "IB... BE DEAD..." He forced, looking strained to get it completely out of his throat and past that toxic grin that looked very strained as well now.

Dib jumped and turned around so he was facing the other now. His breathing had begun to grow rapidly again at the sight of the haunting smile on Zim's face. Those words rang through his head several times, but he didn't understand them at first. After a moment, he figured out that 'IB' was in fact him. Somehow, Zim was unable to form the boy's full name, and that only intensified the horror of the sitation now as he comprehended that the Irken wanted him dead. After standing still for a moment, he began to take small steps backward, raising his hands in submission as he did so.

Zim stared for a long time, shakily raising a hand up to himself and weakly pointing. "Zim..." He spoke, that being the easiest thing to come off his tongue. He took small, hobbling steps to keep the distance somewhat the same. "Zim... Ib..." He pointed weakly at him now, that smile coming back again. "Zim... kills..." He spoke, as if it were cheerful, but it came out in a much more sinister tone.

Dib shook his head rapidly a few times as he continued backward down the steps, still speaking in protest. "N-no... You don't want me dead.." He replied with a small and obviously fearful chuckle.

Zim tensed his hands to fists a moment at this. "IB... MUST..." He forced again, seeming to almost be physically hurt through each word he got out. He made it down each step after a small struggle, eyes locked onto Dib. He held both hands up about ear high to his head, holding them out a bit where his shoulders would end. "ZIM... KILLS.."

What else was the boy going to do but run after his life had been threatened? So run he did. He spun again on his heel and made a mad sprint down the sidewalk with no intent on slowing down. Dib didn't think Zim could run, so perhaps he could escape him now. He checked behind him several times as he continued down the sidewalk, dodging everyone in his path.

Despite how slow and clumsy Zim was on his two feet, he was anything but slow on fours. He gave the chase, screeching garbled clashes of words at his retreating form as he only became more frustrated the more he ran.

To his horror, the Irken had started to gain on Dib quicker than he ever thought possible. The boy searched in distress for a place to hide since his body was growing more exhausted the longer he ran. Soon enough, the park came up to his right and he wasted no time in taking a sharp turn into it. He stopped in his tracks once he had gotten down into the middle of it and searched frantically for a place to hide himself. He couldn't climb due to his wounded arm, so he sought refuge in a thick bush near by which of course was covered in thorns. The boy groaned in agony as he adjusted himself inside of the bush so he was completely covered now. He was able to look through the small spaces though as he stared in distress for the Irken who was sure to be close behind him by now.

Zim couldn't skid to a stop quick enough and crashed into a few garbage cans sitting out. He rushed into the park after recovering from his spill, getting back to his feet again. He gave weak cynical laughs as he began to hobble in through the park now, but didn't seem to remember why he was even there. He crossed over to the swings and sat on one, staring at the gravel down below it.

Dib felt a wave of relief as Zim stopped his search now, but there was no way he was going to reveal himself. He found himself staring at the other just as intently as he had earlier in the cafeteria, only this scene was a lot more eerie to watch than the other and just simply creepy. His legs were starting to get sore though from the awkward position he was in so he very slowly adjusted himself, causing the leaves to rustle lowly as he did so. His eyes widened at this and he held his breath, snapping his head up to look at Zim.

Zim looked up sharply at the sound of rustling leaves as a result of his shifting to adjust his position. "KILLS!!" He screeched toward the garden, getting to his feet as if to go straight to where he knew Dib was. But the information was soon all tangled with everything else that was stuck in his mind, and he began looking around now in disorientation.

Dib refused to breath now since the other was so close to him at this point. Though, he was forced to take small gasps as he started to grow rather needy for air. His eyes stayed glued to Zim though, hoping that perhaps he would grow weary of standing here and leave.

Zim didn't seem to get bored though, but what could be described as lost. He hissed weakly with a frustrated cry of anguish as he couldn't figure out where the human had gone to. His mind knew enough to figure out that he would be at his home at some point though. He needed to wait simply, and waiting is something his mind could easily cope with and do without stressing.

At this point, Dib found he would be stuck here a bit longer, and sitting there completely still was starting to wear on his body. He closed his eyes as he tried to block out the pain he was in since running out of the pointed shrub just wasn't an option.

Zim finally lumbered out through where he had found the exit had been now. He could autopilot back to his base for now, but he'd need to struggle to the human's house whenever his mind could fully wrap around the idea. He knew what he wanted and how to do it, but his brain was not sending it correctly to him, but more muddling with the rest of his thoughts. For now, he would sit on the couch beside the broken Gir, whom he had yanked apart days before.

When he was sure Zim was completely gone, Dib pulled himself slowly from the bush, but of course this didn't prevent any of the thorns from catching on to his jacket and ripping through to the skin. Though, this hardly meant anything to him as he sprung out and made another dash towards his house where he had expected Zim to be by now. But from what it seemed, Zim had not come back to his home. There was no telling if he had tried to get into his house after he had left the park, and if he had, there were no marks telling him so.

Dib stared at Zim wide-eyed in panic as he approached him slowly, backing up a few clumsy steps before bumping into the fence behind him. He looked over his shoulder and eye it, dreading the fact that he had to climb the damned thing if he wanted to avoid the same fate his teacher had met.

After glancing back at Zim another time, seeing that he was getting closer to him quicker than he thought, he turned and faced the fence and backed up a few steps. He drew a shaky breath before running at it and making a leap as he got close to the fence, grunting as he hit it and started his desperate climb.

A screech of obvious rage exploded from the hobbling being that was trailing far behind his escaping form. “IB!!!!” The name practically pierced through the air as wild eyes, even through those contacts, locked onto him frighteningly and his arms outstretched in a dire want to rip the other from the rusty chained fence.

The screech shook the boy, causing his grip to slip a bit through his damp palms. Once he had collected himself, he continued his precarious balance on the rusty fence with a mind set on living. He felt a bit safer once he reached the top, seeing the deranged alien still far behind, and seriously doubting he could even manage to find his way halfway up the fence.

Zim growled and grabbed ahold of the chain fence once he had reached it, looking as if he were trapped now. There was no possible way he could coordinate his body into climbing over a fence. Instead, he gripped hard onto it and began to rattle it hard with insane screams of frustration.

Dib hurled himself over the top once he had reached it, which resulted in a rather violent drop on the grass below him. He managed to catch himself from falling on his face with his hands, inhaling sharply from the impact. He groaned at the slight pain his his legs, standing now to look over at Zim who was throwing quite the fit now that he had made it to the other side.

Zim paused his violent yanking on the fence to stare blankly at the other on the opposite side. It was a fairly calm moment for the behavior the other had been exhibiting only moments before. Yet, as quickly as the peace came, it was gone again. Zim suddenly threw himself on the chained fence on the other side, shoving his arms through the chains and clawing at him.

Dib jumped backwards a few inches as Zim began his violent behaviours again, still staring at him though with a slight smirk now as if to silently taunt him. Of course, he was only feeling bold because of the fence between them. After a few moments of staring, Dib’s smile darkened to a look of fear as he started to back away steadily. He soon found himself spinning on his heel to take off in the other direction.

Zim screamed gargled words as the other began to run from him. He gripped the wired fence tightly once more as he began to yank it violently so it wobbled back and forth. "IB!!!!"

Dib kept his focus ahead, ignoring the screams as he sped across the schoolyard and towards the congested sidewalks bustling with life. He took a sharp left once he had reached it, pushing past several people as he rushed towards his father’s lab. There, he hoped his father would be available in his busy schedule to help him unlike everyone else.

Zim could still be heard screaming even at a distance. He was furious that his IB kept getting away from him every time. One day, he would not be so lucky, and then the disturbed alien would finally get him.

Due to the speed he was running at, Dib arrived in front of his father’s colossal laboratory in a rather short span of time. He didn’t bother trying to go through the front entrance since he knew there would be people there to stop him. Instead, he headed towards the back where he was usually able to get in with ease. But of course today, two guards stood in front of the back door, each holding a large spear with an electric spark on the end.

Dib stopped abruptly as he caught sight of them, cursing to himself in frustration. After a moment, he approached them shakily which received a judgmental glare from the guard on the right.

“I.. I have to go see my father. There’s an a-alien trying to kill me and-” Dib started before he was interrupted.

The other guard standing opposite of the main guard rolled his eyes at this. "Not this bit again... look kid, if you keep coming around here we're going to call the police!"

Dib’s expression turned to one of panic now as he shook his head several times in protest, screaming loudly now. “He’s my father! I need him!”

The guard held his elongated taser prod closer in a subtle threat. "Hey hey! Get out of here before we call the crazy crew to come pick you up!" He shouted sternly. "Now scram!"

Dib’s hands rose to grip his hair, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth in annoyance and frustrated. His eyes shot open again moments later as his paranoia was roused again the longer he stood out here where he felt rather exposed. “Please... Let me see my dad..”

"Professor Membrane is a very busy man!" The guard grunted at him, uncaring of his problems. "You can deal with your insanity somewhere else that won't disturb his very important work, little boy!"

Distressed, Dib jumped at the guard now and pointed to his cheeks which bared rather fresh scars from the night before. “Zim did this to me and he is on his way here NOW! I’m NOT CRAZY!!!” He screamed in agony.

The man prodded him once with the taser as he shouted. "I'm calling the police!" He threatened him as he glared at him.

Dib yelped at the sudden zap he received, causing him to stumble backward. He looked back up to the guards with a rather annoyed expression as he recovered, flipping them a rude gesture as he turned and ran down the sidewalk again. He finally settled on the direction of his own home after a moment of debate on where to run next.

The guard shook his head a bit with a sigh. "Crazy kid..." He muttered.

Even as he ran people were giving him more wary stares than usual. He'd been behaving in an even stranger manner and it was beginning to make the neighborhood humans nervous. They felt as if he could snap at any point and start shooting up homes.

As he ran, Dib took these stares into acknowledgement. He wished that people could understand that he didn’t mean to hurt anyone; that he only wanted to prove that there really was a psychotic Irken out for his blood.

And yet, the harder he tried to prove it, the further away from his initial goal he got. People hurried to the other side of the street to avoid walking on the same sidewalk as him, and mothers took their children in their arms and briskly walked them back inside when he was passing.

Dib slowed his pace as people started to actually avoid him now, feeling a whole new wave of emotions which brought with them their own amount of stress. He returned everyone’s stares with his own, though this one seemed more pathetic in contrast to the judgmental glares he was receiving.

They shunned him quickly in favor of their own normal and sane lives. The only person who seemed to still acknowledge his existence was the deranged Irken who only wanted to kill him.

When his house came closer into view, it became aware that his front door was ripped open from its hinges. It just barely hung there in the door frame, creaking eerily to alert him that he had an unwelcomed guest.

Dib approached the house slowly, his eyes darting towards the damaged as he got closer to it. The wood had been deeply gouged with what seemed to be a set of sharp claws, which of course had to have been Zim’s. He gazed into the house now, which seemed to be unusually dark and eerie now.

There was no one visible in the living room or the mouth of the kitchen. The wall adjacent to the stairs had long gauges across them, as if someone had been trying to catch their balance on them.

Dib spotted the marks on the wall, approaching it slowly and outstretching a hand to rest it upon the marks. The touch sent shivers down his spine, his paranoia rising again as he glanced slowly up the stairs.

The claw marks could have come from nowhere else but the lunatic aliens’ that was currently very much bent on destroying him. Up the stairs, and little ways away from the end of the stairs, there was sounds like slow creaking from the floor sinking in slightly with someone's step.

Dib’s ears seemed to perk at the creaks, leaning forward in an attempt to hear the sounds a bit better as they continued. His instincts screamed at him to run as well as every other bit of sense in his body, but he ignored it. His left foot rose and rest on the stair in front of him, pausing for a moment before continuing his slow trek up the stairs.

The creaking continued to sound through the silent house, making an eerie sound echo throughout the empty hall. There was small sounds periodically, like nails scraping the wall or gurgles of words.

Dib paused at the top step to listen more closely to the sounds, which seemed to be a bit more audible now, and found that they were emanating from Gaz’s room. On a normal day, Dib wouldn’t dare enter his little sister’s room, but he didn’t seemed too worried about her now as he approached the doorway, hesitantly peeking inside.

The room was a total nightmarish wreck. The shelves had been yanked down and the toy security system she had was on the floor as well. The heads had been torn off and the stuffing had been mercilessly yanked out along with the robotic wiring that gave them their murderous abilities. Long, deep claw marks had been gouged into the walls as well as her comforter.

Dib squinted, attempting to see through the thick darkness that plagued the wrecked room. With no sign of Zim, Dib continued forward and reached for the lightswitch, which of course provided no light when flicked on due to the busted lightbulb, leaving Dib in a thick darkness as he proceeded with high caution.

There was an eerie silence in that room, which was even creepier with the mess that had been made. Gaz was sure to blow her top later at the condition her room was in, but that didn't seem to matter at the moment. There was a sound, like a lamp falling to the ground and shattering to a million pieces on the hard wood, followed by a loud screech.

Dib’s body seized and his eyes widened, jumping forward a bit before spinning around to face the direction of the startling sounds. He panted a little, staring in distress through the darkness in search for the other soul who inhabited the room. “Z-Zim...” He whispered.

There was quiet that followed for a short few seconds before there was signs of life again. Zim screamed loudly as he jumped up from the space between the wall and the bed and sprang full on toward Dib in a surprise attack. "IB!!!"

Dib’s eyes widened further as the other sprang at him so quickly. For a split second, he caught a glimpse of Zim’s insane expression which seemed to freeze him in place before being impacted so violently by him.

Zim screeched loudly as he fell to the floor with the one he had attacked. "IB!! KILLS!!" He shouted as he gripped his collar and shook him wildly. "IB!!" He screamed, shaking him so hard that the back of his head continuously slammed into the hard floor.

Loud squeals of pain sounded from Dib as his head collided with the hard floor repeatedly which created harsh doses of pain with each impact. His body seized as the cries had died down to small whimpers as the throbbing-pain became unbearable.

Zim bared his teeth to him a moment before pausing. The corners of his mouth twitched before they curled up into that horrid grin of his. He leaned himself down as far as there was space between them. Soon his face was hovering just above Dib's with that terrible look of insanity. "GONNA GET YOU.."

Dib leaned his head back as a response to the other being so close, though he was mostly worried about those razor sharp teeth. He froze , petrified by the idea of him being shredded to pieces at any moment now. He didn’t dare even breathe too deeply with the fear of setting Zim off.

Zim parted his mouth a moment to flick out that serpent of a tongue. It swatted the other on the cheek, as if it were an intimidating motion. Perhaps it was just another strange tick of his insanity, however.

Dib’s mouth gaped slightly at this, taking in a shallow breath before exhaling in a small whimper. His quivering hands managed to move under Zim’s shirt, grabbing bits of skin and pinching at them harshly with means to distract him.

Zim seemed numb to the pain now though, just as he had been the day before when he had sporked himself in the hand. "IB..." He hissed out in a weak breath against his dampened cheek.

The boy’s distress grew the longer Zim was over him like this. He screamed loudly and thrashed under the Irken, pulling his legs under him and kicking outward. This seemed to work well, sending the Irken off of him. “ENOUGH!!”

Zim screeched as he he thrown back onto the ripped mattress of Gaz's bed. He thrashed a bit with the blankets there before ripping them open and reappearing. He hissed and stood on all fours like an enraged cat ready to attack.

Dib sprang up a bit too quickly which caused the back of his head to throb mercilessly. He grit his teeth and closed an eye at the sharp pain, pausing there a moment as the panging lessened. He groaned and opened his eye, backing up slowly from Zim before stumbling upon a shelf that had been dislodged from the wall. He managed to keep his balance through, which spared him even more pain.

“Z-Zim...” He began with a grim tone, looking up at the other as he came to a pause. “I’m.. Sorry..”

Zim growled a bit, cocking his head slightly to the side and pulling it up a bit as he watched him. The slight movement almost made it looked like he was... confused.

Dib raised a brow slightly, recognizing the change in Zim. He repeated his words a bit louder and clearer now. “I’m sorry...”

Zim parted his mouth again in rage. "RAAAAAHHH!!" He roared in pure outrage, as if he had offended him in someway. "AWAY!!! IB!!!"

The screamed seemed to cause some sort of odd reaction in Dib’s mind as he jumped over the shredded bed. He landed behind the Irken and grabbed him in a sort of choke hold. Without a second thought, he reached for the cleaver he had been carrying with him all and pressed the blade right under Zim’s chin.

Zim gurgled heavily as he grabbed at his throat, tears burning down his cheeks once more as he convulsed. "I..IB...!!I..!" He choked, unable to get much out in his death grip. He swiped at the hand trying to plunge the knife into him, his shell of a body defending to stay alive.

Dib fought successfully in keeping the blade away from his own body, managing to bring it against Zim’s cheek instead and slide it down the flesh to create a deep cut. The wound drew the Irken’s foreign, translucent-pink blood.

Zim squealed like a dying animal, collapsing back and rolling off the bed. He dragged himself across the floor as if the other had cut off a limb rather than cut him. "IB!! IB!!"

Dib watched him through strained eyes, almost feeling a sense of guilt as the other reacted so violently to the attack. He just sat and watched him now, his fingers running along the blood-stained blade of the cleaver in his hand.

Zim's distressed wails could be heard from a mile away, and seemed to circle in the house as he sang in woe with the horrid screams. There was no way to escape him or his insanity; it was simply to follow him around wherever he tried to hide.

Each shriek caused Dib to shiver and wince as the pained sounds burned deeper into his mind. In all his life, he had never imagined he would hear something as terrible as those screams Zim gave and he knew they would haunt him forever.

Zim's wails grew louder and closer the longer he stood in the same spot. On inspection of the creaking near the stairs, the Irken could be seen trying to physically drag himself down the dips leading downward with a screech.

As the sounds seemed to descend, Dib pulled himself from his trance and hopped off the bed, clumsily walking into the hallway and towards the stairs to see Zim crawl down the stairs. He looked almost like an injured zombie illustrated in terrible horror movies; but this was real which only seemed to intensify the horrific scene.

Zim stared up at him like a possessed demon, parting his jaws and breathing heavily. He soon couldn't coordinate himself any longer and tumbled the rest of the way down those hard stairs. He crumpled on the last step as he hit it with a sickening CRACK sound.

Dib’s hands clung to his ears at the crack, which had actually made him feel physically sick to his stomach. After steadying himself, he looked down at the lifeless Irken at the bottom of the stairs, hesitantly starting down after him to get a closer look.

Zim didn't even do so much as twitch. It looked as if he had really injured himself in that nasty series of falls to where he rested now. At the moment, he seemed as if he had died again, just as he had appeared when he had passed out the night before. However, he continued to breathe shallowly and unnaturally.

Upon observing this, Dib took the chance to flee the scene once again. He wasn’t going for help now though.

Anyway, here is chapter seven. XD FIANLLY. Been working on this for like.. two hours now. was here to help be for a bit, but she had to go so I had to try and make is sound okay on my own. D': I'm a terrible writer. I hope you guys enjoy this though! It's.... Quite lengthy. XD

Dib remained in an almost trance-like state for a few moments as he recalled a few memories of Zim. He took another deep breath before speaking again in a quiet tone. “Zim... He was pretty interesting.”

"Yes? What is his personality like?" The doctor questioned, beginning to write again at the others decision to elaborate more on the subject.

Dib slowly looked back to the doctor, shifting in his seat as he considered the question. “Well, he was loud and obnoxious and would often insult the human race whenever he had the chance to. But, he was very proud of his race and his leaders. He made every attempt to take over Earth even if he failed every time. But I liked that about him...” Dib’s voice trailed off some as his gaze lowered. “I admired that about him actually..”

Dr.Gaul hummed and nodded his head a bit. "Well, I can only chalk this up as more schizophrenia from how you say this. You seem very fond of this little delusion as well, which also tells me you have some repressed homosexual tendencies... Does that sound right to you?"

Dib’s cheeks grew a little warm at this, eyebrows raising slightly as he looked back up at Dr. Gual. “W-what? I’m not gay.. I haven’t even paid attention to my sexuality anyway..” The tone of his voice suggested otherwise though.

The doctor scribbled the word 'homosexual' very noticeably down on his chart. "Mhmm.. have you ever found yourself attracted to girls? Boys?" He questioned, looking up over his chart. "This Zim?"

The boy hesitated, shifting again in his seat. “Uh... I don’t know I’ve never really found anyone to be attractive to me. But.. I guess Zim was different...” His cheeks grew a bit warmer at that.

Dr.Gaul nodded his head a bit at this. "Well, this is obviously another way you're trying to deny this underlying homosexuality. You should try to work that out with yourself as well. There's nothing wrong with playing pitcher-catcher with another guy."

Dib reached up to rub the back of his neck, his eyes flicking to the side again. “I guess.. But what would my father say about that? I’m sure he would feel more disappointed in me...”

Dr.Gaul spoke up at his comment. "Well, naturally children want the approval of their parents... but you can't let his rejection of it make you repress and deny it more. That will cause some major depression on your part."

“I just don’t know how to walk up to somebody and express any feelings I may have. And I really just want Zim back..”

"Well, life is about taking chances. Sometimes you have to look into yourself to be able to reach them." He replied. "And if you can maybe find someone to occupy your time, Zim will go away and you won't need him back."

Dib scowled sitting up a little almost defensively. “Zim will always be a part of my life.”

"He's just a figment of your sickness.." He sighed, setting his clipboard down. "It is a part of your life in which you must overcome."

“Whatever you say, doctor.” Dib snapped resentfully.

Dr.Gaul hummed a bit. "Those anti-psychosis pills should also take care of that anger of yours." He commented as he watched him. "You're free to leave now then."

Without a second though, Dib was on his feet, shooting Dr. Gual one last frown before giving an unconvincing ‘thank you’ and heading out of the office in annoyance. He stormed down the hallway and approached the front desk and waited impatiently for the woman to notice him.

She finally caught on to him and grinned a bit. "Hello.. is that a prescription?" She questioned, taking the sheet of paper and reading over it. She frowned after a moment and headed off, collecting a bottle and handing it over to him.

Dib gave a quick and almost sarcastic smile at the woman, a completely different approach than before seeing the doctor, then snatched the bottle from her hand and jammed it in his pocket. With that, the unsatisfied boy pushed through the front doors and headed home, grumbling angrily to himself as he walked.

They had only responded to what they believed it sounded like. No one besides Dib had any proof that there was truly an alien there, so to them it sounded like a delusion. They had only wanted to help him.

Dib knew in the back of his mind that they only wanted to help him through this, but more than anything he longed for someone to just believe that he was telling the truth. He felt stuck in this hellish nightmare that never seemed to end, driving him deeper into psychological torment and loneliness.

The boy entered his house cautiously, as he often did now a days, and found it was rather quiet. With a sigh of relief, Dib continued inside and headed towards the living room and towards an end table to the left of the couch. He cracked the pill bottle open and poured three tablets from it, examining them in his hand. Questions rose again as he remembered what the doctor had said, and how scary it was that everything had seemed so accurate.

What if Zim had just been a result of some insane delusion..?

After much contemplation in his mind, Dib threw the tablets in his mouth and swallowed them dry, grunting a little as they didn’t go down very easily.

It didn't appear anyone was home either. Gaz hadn't gotten back from school yet, and as far as it seemed, Zim was not there. The house was silent too, not giving anything away.

Dib shuddered a bit as the piercing silence continued. If anything, it heightened his paranoia since he was completely alone now and there was absolutely no sign of anyone. It made him curious as to where Zim was now...

He headed towards the couch nearest to the window and sat, staring outside through widened eyes as if he were expecting someone familiar to come walking up his driveway, even his hateful little sister.

Still, hours later there was no one. Where was Gaz? What if Zim had recognized her as being connected to Dib? She could be in danger..

Though he never really cared for Gaz, Dib couldn’t help the small ounce of worry and paranoia in the pit of his stomach. He grew restless now, squirming on the couch and biting his lip hard enough the break the skin as he continued to wait desperately for his sister to come home.

Another hour passed and there had still been no sight of her.

Zim could be putting her through the same terrifying experience he was giving Dib. Even if she was awful, did she truly deserve something that horrifying?

Images of Zim’s horrifying expression and rage flashed through his mind now as he considered the possibility. The thought of yet another victim made him feel a little dizzy since he never wished for anyone, even Gaz, to go through the trauma that he had been enduring.

After a small episode of hyperventilation and panic, Dib rushed towards Zim house even though his instincts and better judgment screamed at him to turn around and run back home. However, he reached the Irken’s eerie base almost in the blink of an eye. He was already disoriented before even entering the house, probably from keen fright and the side effects of those pills, as he pushed through the bloodied and scarred front door.

From first look, there wasn't any sign of the Irken. But then there were loud screeches and screams, far away. It sounded like it was upstairs, but in a further off room.

Dib’s ears almost seemed to perk at the sudden screeches, his head snapping towards the direction of the stairs. He whined lowly to himself as he started forwards with agonizingly slow and stiff steps. He never batted an eye as he approached the bottom of the staircase, examining the house as he continued along.

There was more blood upon the walls and splattered up the staircase, but what was disturbing about it was the color. It wasn't the translucent pink of the Irken's, but a dark crimson color. One of a human nature.

Dib looked towards a wall on his left to see that a stain of both red and pink blood swiped across it. He stared at it for several moments before shakily reaching for it and running a finger along it. It was rather fresh so it stained his skin, leaving a sort of eerie mark.

There were more scraping and screeches not far away, sounding like it were actually upstairs. There was blood on the railing of the staircase in front of him.

Dib looked back up the stairs and reached for the railing beside him, slowing ascending upward. The darkness thickened which made it quite hard to see as he walked up the stairway so he squinted his eyes in an attempt to see through it.

“Gaz?” He whispered out and waited eagerly for a reply. It was silly to think that his sister might actually be there, but it chilled him as well to think of her not calling out in response.

There was no sound back to him after a while, there only being that one light toward the end of the hall. There were more shouts and screeches coming from that room, each one more chilling than the last.

Dib’s movements discontinued once he had gotten to the top as he squinted at the dim light ahead of him. He finally headed forward after a moment, stretching his arms out ahead of him so he could navigate himself safely without running into anything. With each step, the screams and screeches grew louder which sent shivers of horror and anticipation down his spine.

After a walk that seemed to last an eternity, Dib had approached the doorway and was able to look inside at the one who occupied it.

Zim was hunched over something, his back to the door. He screeched loudly as both he and the walls around him were splattered with crimson blood.

Of course, the smell was horrendous and it caused the boy’s head to spin a bit and an acidic burn to travel up his throat in disgust. He cupped a hand over his mouth to muffle a whimper which threatened to give away his position. He dumbly took a step forward though to try and see what exactly Zim was hunched over.

Zim's lekku soon went straight up, which signaled that the Irken had sensed him. His head turned around to face him, his mouth turning up into the sickening grin, his face splotched with red and gore. "IB.."

Dib froze where he stood, his nails digging into the skin around his mouth out of pure fear. “Z-Zim..” He replied in a muffled tone.

Zim hissed suddenly, crouching down over the bloodied body under him like a mother protecting her cub. Or, in this more likely instance, a tiger protecting its prey.

Dib’s eyes disregarded the Irken now after sensing he wouldn’t attack as long as he stayed still. Instead, they focused on the shredded body under him which sent the boy a whole new wave of fright and tremendous anguish. The body was practically torn beyond recognition and repair, but it finally registered after a minute or so who exactly Zim’s victim was; His little sister, Gaz.

Dib’s hand dropped from his mouth and instead went to steady himself against the doorway as he could feel himself practically lose his sense of balance. Mouth gaped, he panted heavily with a mixture of low, panicked whines. His eyes never left his sister’s tattered corpse.

Zim hissed again and his claws sank into the girl more as he screeched. "MINE!!! MINE!!!" He screamed, like some demented child throwing a fit over a toy he possessed.

A small tear even began to form now as he tried to comprehend the death of Gaz. He even started to feel physically sick as his stomach threatened to throw up whatever small amount of food was in it the longer he stared at her corpse. Eventually, his gaze moved back up to face Zim with an expression of pure depression and antipathy. “W-why?” He was able to force out through pants and whimpers.

Zim grinned widely again at the question, though his eyes were dangerous and threatening. He crouched down more and bit into the unmoving girl's arm, shaking his head like a mad dog until there was a sickening crack and tearing sound. He chomped on the mouthful of flesh he had before swallowing, grinning again. "Hungry.."

Dib winced at that terrible crack and closed his eyes tightly to avoid watching him eat the flesh. He actually let himself fall to the floor now as he coiled himself up into a fetal position. He opened his eyes slowly to look back up at the feasting alien with pleading eyes. “STOP IT!!” He cried hysterically, reaching up to grab handfuls of his hair now. “ENOUGH!!

Zim grinned even wider as he saw the others break down. He held onto that single 'e' of a laughter as he watched the other. He clawed at the one under him absently, like a cat kneading a favorite pillow.

Dib hit the back of his head against the wall a few times as he continued to watch the other, though he was mostly staring at his sister now almost like he wanted to try and take her body with him. “P-please..” His voice cracked as he spoke.

Zim bared his bloodied teeth at him as he screeched. He wasn't going to let his prey be taken by another, and he made this very clear. He sunk his claws in further and hissed at him.

Dib was far too paralyzed by fear to make any further movements towards his sister or even out the door no matter how badly he wanted to. “I’m sorry..” He whispered to her as if expecting that she could hear him.

Zim growled as he saw the other wasn't leaving, but also not approaching his meal. He simply went back to eating, forcing the human to watch Zim as he tore into her skin without relent or remorse.

With Dib’s inability to move, he was forced to watch the other tear at chunks of flesh from his sister’s corpse. Even his eyes were so cruel as to not allow him to close them or look away. He simply stared at the Irken and Gaz’s body until there was practically nothing left of her. He stayed with her almost as if he were trying to comfort her through this torture even though it damaged him further.

Finally, he was able to move but not in a way he would have preferred. He was only able to drag himself from the scene and down the hallway, sobbing and screaming that he was sorry for his sister’s death.

If anything, those pills the doctor had gave him could help him forget that horrifying image. Zim didn't follow after him, busy with his little sister as he devoured her flesh.

Dib managed to drag himself to the peak of the stairs, but he tumbled forward and down them quite violently which sent him into the wall below much like what had happened to him in his own house. He paid no mind to the throbbing pain in his body as he was finally able to stand, panting heavily and noisily with the occasional scream as if pleading for help as he managed to walk out of the front door and down the sidewalk.

No one responded to his cries, leaving him alone in despair. The computer wasn't even speaking up, in a quiet remorse for the insane little boy who had lost his sister now.

Dib was very unsteady on his feet now, tripping over himself with almost every step he took. He continued to let out constant cries as the images of the scene flashed tauntingly in his memory. He was almost convinced that he was back in the house though as some of the images lingered into a prolonged hallucination. Hopefully that medicine would drain the memories from his mind...

He had now lost both his sister and his mother, only having his father left now. His father didn't appreciate him either, or even realize he existed half the time. It was as if he had no family left at all.

Dib was on his own now, and without the small amount of security he had felt with his sister occupying the house, he was sure to be full of despair and unnerving loneliness. No one would be there to talk to him, even if the exchanges he and Gaz had shared weren’t pleasant. They gave him a sense of security, and now it had been taken from him again by the hands of Zim.

The trip home had been a long and horribly painful one, but he made it nonetheless. Before going to his room, Dib managed to reach his pill bottle and swallow down three more, but he took an extra in hopes that it would drain his mind. Afterwards, he headed upstairs and meandered to Gaz’s room, staring at the wreckage which remained from a couple days ago.

Zim must have come searching for her that day, tearing her room apart in the process. Or maybe he had still been in search of Dib, but had gotten confused since Gaz was closely related with him. Either way, he had gotten to his little sister in the end.

After simply standing in a foggy nostalgia and crippling depression for a full five minutes, Dib walked mindlessly across the hall and towards his own room which held it’s own share of damage and horrors. He walked towards his bed and sat stiffly upon it as he considered the situation once again.

There was no way he would tell his father about this, but he was sure it wouldn’t matter since he didn’t seem to care much about their well beings anyway. If he were to report this to authorities, they would assume he was just out of his mind and that he was the one that murdered her. He decided the best thing to do at this point was to keep it to himself, though it was sure to tear him up over time and the more he thought about it.

It wasn't completely clear if Zim would visit him tonight or not. Maybe he would still be busy with Gaz, or maybe he'd visit Dib in anger for interrupting his meal.

Dib wasn’t going to let his guard down too easily though, not after what he had just witnessed. He was sure Zim was plotting more horrible ways to torment him even further to the verge of insanity.

The night stretched on though, and Zim never showed up. There weren't even small noises in the house anymore of Gaz getting up and down, or the little beeping of her favorite game system. He was completely alone.

Dib practically sobbed himself to the point of exhaustion until he finally succumbed to sleep. No one was there for him, no one to even shout at him to be quiet or punch him in the throat. It was just utter loneliness now.